Bated Breath
by Foxtail-Padfoot
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy is in his seventh year, with some stuff to deal with- Quidditch, fights, friends, and one particular redheaded girl of his dreams. Scorpius x Rose.
1. Chapter 1

The train rides were the worst.

He could deal with it the rest of the year, but the train rides were when that last ray of euphoria from summer had not yet been quashed by the prospects of another year among a thousand people who hated him. Well, nine hundred ninety-nine. There was always Albus Potter, Gryffindor seeker and newly minted king of the school, now that his older brother James had graduated. But that was one man among many.

It wasn't even that Scorpius _cared_, he reflected as he pressed his forehead against the cool glass of the window, staring out as the platform disappeared. And why should he? It wasn't like _Scorpius_ was going to try to kill the Headmistress. It wasn't like _Scorpius_ had a Dark Mark on his arm by the age of sixteen, like his father and grandfather. It wasn't like _Scorpius_ was in Slytherin, either. In fact, he wasn't. That was what surprised everyone the most.

_He was six years back, in his first year, staring up at the Deputy Headmaster, Neville Longbottom. He recognized the name from the bedtime stories his father told. Scorpius was eleven, small for his age, with pale blonde hair and striking grey eyes, just like his father. He felt smaller, he felt very small, with all those hostile eyes on him. Scorpius had been examined the entire ride, and he didn't know why; that was, until he tried to introduce himself to a pretty little redhead girl who spat on his shoes and declared "her daddy would never permit her to befriend a Malfoy"._

_Why did being a Malfoy matter? He wondered that all the way up to the platform at the front of the Great Hall. Scorpius clenched his jaw as he sat on the bench, aware of the whispers and glares he was getting from all the four tables. He had to prove that being a Malfoy didn't matter. The Sorting Hat, a very shabby accessory indeed, was placed over his head and began whispering sibilantly. "A brave soul, you are. But clever, too. Cunning. Slytherin would be a good fit for you, especially given your family…"_

"_Not Slytherin," Scorpius plead, echoing words he hadn't known he'd been echoing. "I want to prove them wrong."_

"_Not Slytherin, eh? That seems familiar… But no, you are not the same as Mr. Potter. I expect that with the brain I can see you have, the best fit would be… RAVENCLAW!" the Hat roared, startling Scorpius into exhaling the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. The Great Hall fell eerily silent as Scorpius walked slowly over to the table of blue, sitting down quietly at the far end of the table. Very close to the door. The butterflies in his stomach seemed to have increased, rather than settled._

Scorpius blinked, drawing himself back to the present. Somehow, he had made it to his seventh year. Just one hundred and eighty days and he could be free of this place. Not that he didn't love learning. He did. But not at the cost of those nine hundred ninety-nine prying eyes, watching for something he couldn't begin to guess at.

Except for wait, he could.

He could guess they were waiting for him to go crazy in the middle of the Great Hall and start screaming curses at anyone and everyone.

He could guess they were waiting for him to show off his Dark Mark in the middle of Transfiguration.

He could guess they were waiting for him to decide Azkaban was a good summer home.

He could guess they were waiting for him to pull a Dementor out of his pocket.

He could guess they were waiting for him to screw up.

Well, they could all go suffocate on that breath they were holding, because he wasn't screwing up.

Scorpius released a breath and sat up, the rasping noise of the door sliding back awakening him from his reverie. Albus plopped down on the seat across from him. "Well, this is a rare treat, you're talking to me off the pitch," Scorpius drawled.

"This is a rare treat, you're not wailing on Mark Boot in the bathroom," Albus drawled back.

"Give me some time, the train just left."

Al gave me a sharp look. "When will you stop?"

"Am I too old to hide in a corner like I did in first year?"

"Yes."

"Then not any time soon."

Al shook his head. "You're impossible, Malfoy."

Scorpius didn't say anything. After a long moment of silence, he said, "I made Quidditch Captain, seeing as Ethan Belby finally left last year."

"About time," Al said, relief at the change of subject evident in his voice. "You've been a better player than Belby since you joined the team in second year!"

"He was the best older player by the time he hit fifth year," Scorpius murmured. "Shame, that. Cost us the Cup last year."

Al snickered. "Are you sure that just wasn't Gryffindor skill?"

"You wish, Potter."

The rest of the train ride passed amiably, for once. No one seemed to want to bother Scorpius when he was in the company of the King, which said king seemed to have recognized. It was a distinct change from his other twelve train rides, both to and from school.

_He was back in his third year, standing in the boys' bathroom, fists raised in what had become a familiar dance. Scorpius taunted the boy standing in front of him, fists also raised. "Boot, what's the matter? Scared?" He grunted when the boy's fist collided with his nose. Blood spattered over Scorpius's crisp white shirt. "Boot, you hit like a girl!" His own fist flashed out and collided with Mark Boot's stomach. He went for more subtle, but no less effective, methods. Boot doubled over for a moment before head-butting Scorpius in the stomach. "Oomph!"_

_Then he was in fifth year, walking out of the bathroom after a more complex though no less vicious brawl with Mark and a few other boys. He'd become quite adept at Episkey. Scorpius had almost lost count at how many times he'd broken his nose. Today, he would need to visit the hospital wing upon arrival to the castle. Mark had crashed his head into a sink. Scorpius was just cleaning up some of the blood with a hankerchief, so it looked like he was just wiping his face._

_Then a body hit his. He jumped, grunting when an elbow collided with a bruise on his abdomen. "Be more in the way, could you?" groaned a familiar female voice. Scorpius gulped, almost not wanting to remove the kerchief so she saw who it was. Finally, he lowered it and slipped into his sarcastic shield. "I could be pinning you to a wall, Weasley. That would be more in the way."_

_Rose sighed when she saw it was him. "Move, Malfoy." And she pushed past him, evidently not in the mood._

"_Where to, Weasley?"_

"_Prefect's meeting, Malfoy. You're not invited." And with a swish of red hair, she was gone._

Then there had been every fight in empty classrooms, secluded corners, hidden corridors. Scorpius shook his head to clear it of the memories. This was a new year, this was his last chance to prove himself to this hypocritical, prejudiced school.

He sat in a carriage alone, Albus having rejoined his family- Rose, Scorpius realized with a twang- once they were off the train. Albus may have been Scorpius's best- only- friend, but Albus was best friends with Rose Weasley. Scorpius knew he was just a friend, or even just a community service project. Let's keep the Death Eater's son from beating up all the Gryffindors or anyone else who challenges him. Scorpius sighed. He knew that was it. And he knew he was even less to the only other person he cared what they thought of him on a day-to-day basis, Rose. Scorpius suspected that if given the chance, she would still spit on his shoes, prefect or no. Speaking of, she was probably Head Girl this year. Joy.

The rattles slowed to a stop and Scorpius hopped off, walking at a brisk pace up to the castle. He would head straight up to the Ravenclaw dormitories, and skip dinner. He wasn't in the mood. _Are you ever in the mood?_ wondered his internal voice that Scorpius thought must be his conscience. Scorpius ignored it. No, he answered silently.

Scorpius tucked his hands in his pocket and walked faster, the cold Scotland air biting his skin even this early in the fall. Suddenly, a rustling and scuffling caught his attention. He looked to see two boys duking it out behind some shrubbery. Scorpius sighed. No rest for the innocent, huh. Resigned to his fate, Scorpius walked over and hoisted the two younger children apart from each other by the collars, for once glad of the large, muscular frame he'd gotten from playing Quidditch. "What exactly are you two doing?" he asked, noting they were both fifth year Gryffindors.

"None of your business, Malfoy," snarled one of the boys, who he vaguely recognized as having been caught snogging Lily Potter last year. The boy had given Albus a heart attack.

Scorpius shook him roughly. "It is when you're fighting over a friend's sister." Scorpius had placed the other boy as one he had seen snogging Lily Potter just this morning, on the platform. Al had looked rather constipated as he tried to ignore it.

"Since when are you friends with Albus Potter?" sneered that boy. Lorcan Scamander, if he remembered. The other was Greg Gains.

"Since I have been," Scorpius retorted shortly, looking up at the sound of more footsteps.

Rose Weasley planted her feet in the ground, placing her hands squarely on her hip, echoing the favorite pose of her Grandmum Weasley. "Mr. Malfoy, why exactly are you berating two younger students?" The venom in her voice told Scorpius she was already sure it was his fault.

"O Head Girl," he began, seeing his thoughts confirmed by a shiny silver badge, "I was merely separating a fight. Relax, Weasley. Although, I suppose I would rather you thank me, seeing as they were fighting over _your_ cousin."

Her brow furrowed. "They were what?" she asked, taken aback. "How do you know?"

Scorpius laughed. "It didn't take much but observational skills to figure out. Scamander here was snogging Lily Potter this morning on the platform, and Gains here was snogging her right before school let out last year."

Gains fought against Scorpius' firm hold. "Let me go already, Malfoy," he spat.

Scorpius looked to Rose, who nodded, a resigned look on her face. "Come with me, boys. You too, Malfoy." She began leading the group up towards the castle.

Scorpius released the boys and gave a resigned sigh. What was the problem with the world letting him relax in peace? "Why do I have to go, Weasley? I haven't done anything."

"The Headmistress will want you there to collaborate your story."

"Story?" Scorpius protested.

"Relax, Malfoy." _I've been trying,_ he thought defiantly. "All I meant was that these two will be denying they did anything. I've seen their ilk." She glared at the two boys, who ducked their heads nervously.

The walk passed silently and tensely all the way to the Headmistress's office. On the way there, Scorpius did notice Lily's eyes flashing when she saw the four, her eyes lighting on Scorpius like it was his fault. How novel, Scorpius thought bitterly. Al just looked concerned, which Scorpius clenched his jaw at and tried to smile reassuringly at his friend at the same time as ignoring the looks and whispers that had not stopped after six years.

Rose led them all up to the gargoyles which Scorpius had become acquainted with multiple times over the years, and spoke confidently. "Severus Snape." The stones grated as the wall turned into a door, and a staircase appeared. Rose walked up it, beckoning for the others to follow. When the boys looked as if they wanted to run, Scorpius pushed them forcefully up the stairs. Lorcan and Greg both turned to glare at him. "Headmistress?" Rose called out as they all walked into the sumptuous office.

Minerva McGonagall swept in, face unreadable. Her emerald robes were as distinctive as the bright purple ones Dumbledore had been said to wear. "Yes, Miss Weasley?"

"Scorpius Malfoy claims he found these two fighting outside the school." Rose's tone left no illusion she didn't believe him. "Lorcan Scamander and Greg Gaines, fifth year Gryffindors."

McGonagall looked over all of them, an eyebrow raised. "Mr. Malfoy, step forward. I have a simple way to prove this."

Scorpius stepped forward, mildly bewildered. "Headmistress?" he asked.

McGonagall held up a hand. "Stand still and trust I am not about to poke you in the eye. Think about what you saw." Scorpius ran over the event in his head, from walking down the path to Rose appearing and his explaining why he thought they were fighting over Lily Potter. McGonagall tapped his temple with her wand and withdrew a silvery thread- a memory, the seventh year recognized. "Why Albus never did this, I'll never figure out," the Headmistress whispered as she placed the memory in the Pensieve on her desk. She dipped her head inside the Pensieve and returned up moments later. "Mr. Malfoy, you are excused, thank you."

Scorpius nodded but didn't move. McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "I rather want to see what they get," Scorpius said, smirking at Rose.

Rose pursed her lips and turned back to McGonagall. "Headmistress, I will let you pass judgment on them, seeing as if you believe Malfoy's story they were fighting over my cousin."

The Headmistress looked between the two older students before returning her attentions to the two fifth years. "Detentions one night a week for the next month. And no extracurriculars, I know you are both in school organizations."

Scorpius swallowed somewhat nervously, realizing his detention fate would be much worse if anyone other than Al or the people he fought with found out. Possible expulsion would be on the menu. He looked over to see Rose giving him an odd look, but he just smirked and walked out, seeing McGonagall had dismissed the others.

He made his way up to the Ravenclaw tower, not hearing Rose call after him.

Finally, some peace.

**A/N: So this just kinda took off. I read one good oneshot that was Rose/Scorpius, and from that was this story. Let me know what you think. (Oh, and for people who read my NCIS stuff... I've kinda lost focus on those, but I promise I will work on them, I really do.)**


	2. Chapter 2

Scorpius flopped onto his bed, letting himself relax for the first time all day. Even on the train, he had been tense, just because he was so used to getting in a fistfight in the boys' restroom. But this bed… This was some heavenly being sent to his dorm merely to make him relax. Scorpius groaned, sure he was in nirvana.

"Enjoying yourself there, Malfoy?" a familiar female voice asked.

He sat up, staring at Rose Weasley. "How'd you get in here?"

"Oh, come off it. I'm Head Girl, I can go wherever I like when I need to, and I wanted to ask you something." She placed her hands on her hips again.

"What, exactly?" Scorpius asked, letting his eyes skim over her appreciatively before meeting her blue eyes. "Could it not wait until tomorrow? This has been a very long day."

"Malfoy, I'm not an idiot. I know when something's up, and something is most definitely up with you. No one looks that shifty when a teacher is giving _someone else_ a detention."

Scorpius waved a hand at her. "Maybe I was internally debating the wisdom of all those men I've beaten senseless," he jibed. "May you leave me in peace, now, Weasley?"

"You're disgusting," she growled at him before turning on her heel and stalking out.

"Thank you," Scorpius muttered. To the heavens above or to Rose Weasley, he wasn't sure. But whoever he was talking to, he was glad they had given him some peace.

Scorpius slept all the way through to the next morning, when he was shaken awake by one of the other boys in his dorm. "We came in from dinner and you were knocked out on the bed. Must have had some day, yesterday!" Trevor laughed.

He nodded, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Very." Scorpius changed into a fresh set of robes and vigorously brushed his teeth. On his way out the common room, Scorpius' collar got yanked to the side. "Wha-?" He looked down to see one Rose Weasley staring up at him, a determined set to her mouth.

"I talked to Al."

"I'm sure you do that quite often, seeing as you're best friends," Scorpius sniped.

"About you."

"Schoolgirl crush, Weasley? A little old, aren't we?"

"Good to see you still have your wit this early," she snarked right back.

"Never without it."

"We actually were discussing your extracurriculars."

"I didn't realize you were so interested in Quidditch."

"I was talking about your throwing punches."

"The only thing I throw is the Quaffle. Although it does pack quite a punch."

"Shut up, Malfoy."

"Kiss me, Weasley." He had made no secret of his interest in her over the past couple years.

"Go to hell."

"I think that defeats the purpose of the exercise." He smiled as she walked off. Score one for Malfoy.

Scorpius walked downstairs to see Albus waiting for him at the foot of the Grand Staircase. "Will nobody leave me alone for five minutes?"

"Rose pried the fighting thing out of me, Scorpius, I'm sorry. She'll probably ambush you later."

"Been there, done that."

"What?"

"Came out of the Tower and she grabbed my collar. Don't worry, Al, I could neither confirm nor deny anything."

"You annoyed her, didn't you."

"Got a 'go to hell' on my first day back. I think it's some kind of record." Scorpius smirked. "You'll probably hear all about it later."

Al sighed. "You're probably right."

Scorpius waved a hand and made his way to his house table. He saw Albus sit down next to Rose, and she immediately started chattering and waving her hands, an irritated expression on her face. Scorpius smirked. He had been right.

He sighed, letting his mind wander. Some things just never changed- his interest in Rose, for one, and Rose's disgust of him, for another. Scorpius wanted nothing more than one kiss. One kiss on those delicate lips, one time of her saying he was not _all_ bad, and he could die happy. He let his eyes wander over her for the next few minutes, from the way her red hair caught the light to the way her blue eyes flashed angrily to the way her hands moved through the air like hummingbirds engaged in battle. Then there was the way her nose crinkled when she got annoyed, the way she chewed on her lip when she was taking tests in class, the way her hair fell from behind her ear when she was taking notes. There was how her face lit up when someone gave her good news, how her lips pursed when she was reprimanding students, how her footsteps got brisker when she wanted something. Scorpius smiled as he thought, feeling his face redden when Rose glanced over and caught him staring.

When the bell rang for students to head for their first class, he did so gladly, practically jumping up and running out of the Great Hall. Scorpius could hear Albus laughing.

He plopped his pack down beside his seat in Charms class and pulled out parchment and quill. Soon after, the rest of the class began filing in- Ravenclaws, and also Gryffindors. Al sat down in the chair next to Scorpius, on the border of the unspoken Gryffindor-Ravenclaw line, and Rose sat down on the other side. Her reproachful look towards Scorpius left the blond with no illusions that she would rather be farther away. Scorpius shook his head. "Weasley."

"Malfoy," she said quietly.

Scorpius was about to think of some witty comment, but soon after that, Professor Flitwick glided into the classroom. "Good morning class," he piped in his tremulous voice. "Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. As seventh years, you will be preparing for your NEWT examinations, and learning more advanced magic than ever before. Today will merely be a review of spells we have learned. Any volunteers to demonstrate?"

Rose's hand shot up in the air, rather reminiscently of her mother, in Flitwick's opinion. "Just like your mother. Come forward, Miss Weasley."

She stood up and walked to the front, a smile on her Head Girl's face. Scorpius watched her perform the spells Flitwick asked, zoning for a moment- he knew all those spells; there was no need to review, in his opinion- until he felt another tug at his collar. When asked to demonstrate Accio, Rose had apparently decided to summon Scorpius's tie. He stood up and followed the insistent fabric forward until her wand was pointing at his throat, to the sounds of the class's laughter. Rose smirked at him.

Flitwick was chuckling as hard as the rest of the class, though not so much as Al, who had fallen out of his chair. "All right, Miss Weasley, that was very amusing. Mr. Malfoy, you may return to your seat."

As soon as Flitwick's attention was turned away, Rose hissed, "I _will_ figure out what you did, Malfoy."

Scorpius merely rolled his eyes and returned to his seat, readjusting his blue-and-bronze tie as he did so.

Albus leaned over in his seat to whisper a question. "Did she threaten you?" he asked, concern written on his face. "Because if she did, she means it, you know that right?"

"Al!" he hissed at his friend. "Don't worry. Weasley doesn't scare me."

"She should," Al grumbled as he straightened in his seat. "Arrogant git."

"I heard you, Potter."

"That was the point, Malfoy."

Scorpius and Al had as equally sarcastic a relationship as Scorpius and Rose, though theirs was much friendlier. At least on Al's end; Scorpius made it a point to be equally sarcastic to everyone. Life was so much easier that way. He smirked as he thought about that. Some people probably liked him the more for his wit, but some people hated him for it. Ahh well. That was how he was, and he knew that it was better that way.

Once the bell rang, Scorpius stood up and packed up quickly, like always. He walked to his next class taking all the possible shortcuts, to avoid people. He wasn't a people person, not when they all avoided him like the plague anyway. There was no point in being one.

As he rounded the corner into another passage, one that dropped down three floors (handy on the way to Herbology, where he was headed now), Scorpius collided into another person. "Oomph!" he grunted. The blond looked at who had run into him and groaned. "Boot, I'm in a bit of a hurry today, sorry I can't punch your face in anyway." Scorpius sidestepped to get around the obnoxious boy, but the Ravenclaw moved with him.

"You have time," the seventeen-year-old said. "Not like it matters if you're late to class. No one expects any more of _you_, Malfoy."

"I hate to say, but they _do_ expect more of me, actually. I'm an excellent student, unlike you." Scorpius smirked at the irritated look on Boot's face.

Boot shook his head and pushed Scorpius behind the tapestry. He then punched Scorpius in the gut, making the Ravenclaw drop his bag. "All right, if you insist, dear." Scorpius rolled his sleeves up and faked at Mark Boot, then slammed his fist up and into Mark's face. Mark reeled backwards, falling against the wall. Scorpius sighed, waved his wand to get the blood off his fist, and picked up his bag. "I told you, Boot, I just don't have the time to perform with my usual level of artistic ability."

With that he jogged down the stairs, coming out on the first floor, and made his way to the greenhouses.

**You know, I would like some reviews, as well. I've had a few alerts, and 82 hits. Not a ton compared to my weekly hits on my six-months-completed NCIS story, but plenty enough that I should have more than two reviews. Come on, people! I love feedback, as does every author, so please review. Even just three reviews would satisfy me.**

**On a less pleading note, I enjoyed writing all the sarcasm in this chapter. Expect a lot more.**

**Mwah,**

**Fox**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, so 2 things. The first is, it took me so long to write this because I had issues writing it from Scorpius's POVish. So, I looked to Avanell's suggestion of writing from Rose's POVish. And the second:**

**DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT JKR. YOU FLATTER ME IF YOU'RE DENSE ENOUGH TO THINK I AM.**

Rose Weasley sighed, tucking her red hair behind an ear as she walked to Herbology. She hated thinking about that arrogant git Malfoy, but there was nothing on her mind but that. Merlin, if only she could find some way to _prove_ what he was doing! Not even silver-tongued Al would be able to talk him out of trouble, if only Rose could prove he was a member of the wizards' equivalent of Fight Club. Rose shook her head, dislodging the locks she had just tucked, deciding that this would be her project for this year. She would prove Malfoy was a bastard.

She glanced to her left, where Al walked, his green eyes darting over to meet her blue ones every now and then. Once they were outside, and sunlight was glaring harshly on their eyes in the midmorning light, Rose stopped and grabbed Al's shoulder, turning him to face her. "Tell me what's wrong. You're my best friend, you can tell me anything."

"Don't do this to him, Rosie. Don't just air his dirty laundry out for everyone," Al begged, cutting straight to the chase.

Rose pursed her lips. "It's not just against the _rules_ to fight people, Al, it's _illegal_. And I will get to the bottom of this, and I will make this stop. One way or the other." She looked Al over carefully. "And why haven't _you_ made him stop? This would have saved me the trouble now, and you would feel content knowing I wasn't getting Malfoy expelled."

Al rolled his green eyes, ruffling his messy black hair nervously. "Rosie, it's not like Scorpius _wants_ to fight. He's really much more mild-mannered than you give him credit. He just happens to be really good at tossing punches, after six years of being antagonized by the rest of the school!"

"Come off it. Most the school has no beef with Malfoy. Especially not a _physical_ one." She swept past Al, clutching her book tighter to her chest.

"You're wrong, Rosie, you know that?" This time Al caught her shoulder, turning her around to look at him. "There aren't many people that look at him sideways with anything other than repulsion or hatred. It's not even his fault! Honest, Rosie, wake up! You're so blinded by your own hatred that you can't see everyone else's!"

Rose drew her breath in, looking over Albus in surprise. She blinked once, twice; then said, "No matter. Come on, we're going to be late for Herbology."

Al shook his head and followed her to class. Rose ignored the disapproving looks he shot her every so often, not particularly caring if Albus felt she was being unfair. Malfoy was an arrogant, self-absorbed, _rule breaking_ git of a miscreant. She could probably think of more insults, but then they walked into Herbology, just before the bell rang. Professor Longbottom smiled warmly at them both. "Nice to see you both. Take your places, I'll be reviewing today. NEWT level Herbology takes a lot more effort than OWL level!"

Neville looked around a moment, as if trying to spot someone before starting his lecture. Finally, he asked, "Where is the rest of my class? I'm missing three students."

"Who?" Rose asked. She shot a small look at Albus, as if saying, _and where exactly is Malfoy?_

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Boot, and Miss Lane." Professor Longbottom _humph_ed and shrugged. "Well, if they can't care enough to arrive on time, I'll just start without them. Miss Weasley, come forward."

Rose hopped up and walked over, used to doing demonstrations, though not usually in Herbology- Malfoy seemed to be Professor Longbottom's favorite student. The Ravenclaw did at least outwardly appear to enjoy the class. Just as she began demonstrating the correct techniques for handling Butobers, the door to the greenhouse swung open to silhouette a tall blonde. Rose felt her stomach leap for no particular reason. She glared at Malfoy as he sauntered in. "Sorry I'm late, Professor. I had a disagreement with an ink bottle." He smiled winningly at Neville as he took his place, setting down his bag.

Rose pursed her lips when Neville nodded. "Don't be late again, Mr. Malfoy. You missed out on demonstrating for today, Miss Weasley is helping me instead." Scorpius nodded, willing to take his lumps so long as he wasn't in trouble.

She rolled her eyes at Malfoy's usual slipperiness. He could weasel out of trouble like nothing else. If only he would put that talent to a productive use, like... No, she couldn't think of anything. There was no useful use for his "talent". Rose shook her head as Professor Longbottom's attention returned to her, and class started back again.

Class ended in a flurry of motion, with everyone in a hurry to get to their next class. The greenhouses were out of the way, and while Professor Longbottom was relatively easygoing on those who came in late, the teachers in the castle were not so forgiving. "Tomorrow we're discussing transfigurative plants!" Neville yelled over the noise. "Don't be late!"

Sadly, most everybody ignored him as they jogged out of the class and towards the castle. Rose walked at a slower pace, knowing after years of practice that she could get to any class in the castle with time to spare if she walked at this pace. As she was exiting the greenhouse, an interesting sight caught her eye. Scorpius Malfoy had stayed behind, and now was helping Professor Longbottom water and fertilize the rest of the plants. "What are you doing?" she asked sharply, turning back into the greenhouse and standing at the door, free hand on her hip.

"This is my free period, Weasley," Malfoy replied, rolling his eyes. "I help out in the greenhouse during my free hour."

Rose sighed. "And why would you do that?"

"Because I like plants. I want to be a Healer, anyway."

"Healer?" she asked, confused. Scorpius had surprised her with that. Somehow, the only occupation she could think of to fit his personality was professional con artist.

"Yes, Healer. You know, they heal people?"

"I know what a Healer is, Malfoy," Rose snapped. "I just didn't think you had the brain cells to do it."

"I'm tied for first in our year," he reminded her smartly, still not having looked at her.

Rose grimaced. She'd forgotten they were tied. "Well, don't be late for next period." She looked around the greenhouse, her eyes resting on Neville and how he was not looking over, but she could tell he was smiling. Rose sighed, having forgotten the Herbology professor was on Albus's bandwagon. She ignored looking at Scorpius, with his broad shoulders and his blonde hair looking almost gold in the light. However much she hated him, she couldn't deny that the Ravenclaw was rather attractive. Shaking her head, Rose turned on her heel and stalked out, walking at a brisker pace than usual, not wanting to be late for Arithmancy.

Late that afternoon, after classes had ended for the day, she sat next to Al in the common room. Al was writing furiously on a piece of parchment. "What are you doing?" she asked, using the opportunity to clear her head of numbers and letters and shapes and forms. "Not homework, you've never invested so much energy in homework before."

Albus looked up and gave her a sour look. He returned his attentions to the parchment, put on a finishing touch, and shoved it across the table at her. "If you must know, it's a flyer for Quidditch tryouts next weekend. James took half the team with him when he left."

She examined the parchment, which had the dates and times of tryouts in beautiful calligraphy, along with sketches of Quidditch players flying in the margins and a proud lion with a Snitch in its mouth pacing along the top. "No wonder it took you so long. This is a work of art, Al."

"Thanks," Al said awkwardly, ears turning a bit red. "Dad says I got it from Granddad Potter, because he sure doesn't have any artistic ability." He grinned slightly. "I am really happy with it. It turned out well." Albus took the paper back and walked over to the notice board, tacking it on. He walked back over after a few moments of examining the board. "I think you should try out, Rosie."

"Why?" Rose asked, laughing. "I have no talent and my day's busy enough as is without spending a few hours flying in circles."

Al rolled his eyes at her persistent Quidditch-bashing. "Because I've seen you help Hugo practice on the 'family pitch'," he said, referring to their grandparents' back yard where the Weasleys always played. "The boy's bloody brilliant at Chasing, but you're no slouch yourself, Rosie. I think you would do great as a Chaser- and I need two, you know."

"What about Lily?" Rose asked curiously. Al's little sister had played Chaser alongside Hugo for three years now.

"Moving her to Beater with Brad Jameson. I've had a few people express interest in the position, but I've seen them try out before and they're no good. Lily can play any position well, and she's particularly fond of violence." Al shrugged. "I thought it'd be nice, then I can get some more talent on the team."

"I'm not trying out, Albus."

Al looked offended. "You wouldn't need to try out! If you want it, you're a shoe-in."

Rose shot him a look and rolled her eyes. "That is an example of corruption in athletics, Al."

"Call me Mr. Pinstripe Suit."

Rose rolled her eyes again and gathered up her books. "I can't be with you when you're like this. Owl me when you're normal again. I'll be in the library."

"All right, Rosie." Al waved cheerfully, but Rose didn't bother to turn around as she clambered through the portrait hole, clutching her books to her chest. Rose rolled her eyes, wondering what could possibly possess that boy to be so… irritating.

Merlin, she needed to calm down. Library it was.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Gee, thanks for the response! Lotsa reviews since I posted. Oh, and Mabby: I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make Rose come off as a bitch. (I know that's what you meant.) And this is what would be my reply to your review if you were logged in (I try responding to every review):**

_**Hey, love, I'm sorry. Rose just has a different perspective on the world- yes, I know it's weird to you and me, but Rose is, in my mental mind's eye, a split between Hermione, Ron, and Percy. I'm not saying it's excusable but I'm saying she adheres to the rules precisely. And that's only what I've portrayed of her so far. Plus bear in mind her Ron-ness: blind hatred is a strong emotion! She's been hating him for six years, and seeing a different side of him makes her a bit awkward. She's not quick to accept it, but she will, you'll see. (Hey, this is only chapter four!)**_

_**Oh, and bear in mind that Scorpius may not like it, but he doesn't exactly try to stop it. I'm making them human, not perfect. Ooh plus, he hasn't exactly been doing much to inspire Rose's respect.**_

**Mm loves, I will give you two disclaimers right fast: 1) I am not JKR. 2) I reference a few of my awesome sister's things in my story. We come up with a lot of these characters and personalities together, so it's not plagiarism on my or her part, and sometimes we borrow from each others' perceptions of reality. Today I'm using her story "Friends" as vague reference point.**

**Thankies, dahlins, for listening to that. Here is chapter four!**

Scorpius was in the library, avoiding life. He rifled through the pages of a book of healing spells, nodding to himself when he saw the spells for knitting broken bone. The Ravenclaw flipped closed the book, tucking it under his arm and moving through the stack looking for more interesting reads. After getting one more, a thick tome on theoretical magical psychology, Scorpius decided that he should just start writing down titles for later reading. He turned and crouched to take out some parchment and a quill.

Just then, the sound of fast footsteps caught his attention. He turned to see Rose Weasley walking towards him fast, though she was looking straight ahead and didn't see him. "R- Umph!" he grunted when, his warning come too late, she tripped and fell over him. Scorpius sprawled backwards when she collided, and found he had a redhead lying on top of him now. "I didn't know you felt like that, Weasley," Scorpius smirked, trying to ignore the feel of her body pressed against his.

Rose made a disgusted noise when she realized who she was sprawled across. "Malfoy! What were you doing in here?"

"Reading." Scorpius put his hands on her waist and moved her off, ignoring the shiver that ran down his spine. "What were you doing in such a hurry you didn't see the really tall Quidditch player crouched on the floor?"

"Avoiding Albus," Rose answered tersely, sitting up. Scorpius had already stood and he offered a hand to the redhead. Rose didn't take the proffered hand, though she did look at it with mild confusion for a moment before standing.

Scorpius made an _hmm_ noise before dropping his hand, watching her face carefully. "Why would you be ignoring Albus?" he asked casually, bending to clean up his things. Scorpius groaned when he saw his ink bottle had spilled.

An odd sound caught his attention, and Scorpius turned his head to see Weasley with a hand clapped over her mouth to keep the giggles from escaping. "Sorry," she gasped, "just… you have ink…" She motioned up and down her right side.

Scorpius lifted his arm to see a large black stain spreading across his side and lower back. "Nice," he groaned. He shook his head and waved his wand to clean up the worst of the mess on the ground, though he'd have to wait to clean his shirt- the spell reacted unpleasantly with human skin and he had no intentions of stripping his shirt off in the middle of the library. Scorpius shoved the rest of his things back in his bag and stood back up. The Ravenclaw tucked the books under his left arm and shouldered his pack. "Well, Weasley, thank you for that." He smiled briefly before making his way towards the library desk to check out the books.

"Wait- Malfoy," she called after him in a low voice. Scorpius turned to face her, one blonde eyebrow arched. "Sorry about your shirt. You and ink bottles just don't get along, huh?" She smirked a bit and sat down at a desk, pulling out parchment and continuing working on an essay.

"All right," he said in slight confusion. He had almost forgotten about the excuse he used for being late to Herbology earlier that day.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head, having decided deliberation wasn't worth it, the blonde turned away and headed to the desk. Madam Pince gave him the filthiest of looks at the large ink stain, to which Scorpius smiled winningly and shrugged. "A bit of an accident. It wasn't in here, don't worry. No ink is on these books or in this library other than what ink was used printing them." Merlin, he hoped that was true. Anyway, Pince gave him an appraising look but then waved a hand. Scorpius wheeled on a heel and happily stalked out of the library.

He ignored the snickers he received from the people paying attention to anything besides homework in his common room. "Did you run on the wrong side of a Dalmatian, Malfoy?" called out a sixth year boy who he vaguely thought was related to Boot.

Boot, his antagonist. Mark Boot was a seventh year, like him, though in Gryffindor. He couldn't leave well enough alone, either- Scorpius was a better fighter than him, from years of having to avoid more than a few fists and spells thrown his way, but Boot just wouldn't give up. Usually, Boot would recruit a few huge thugs and go from there. Despite being muscular from Quidditch, Scorpius couldn't defeat the two meatheads Boot usually pulled, on account of sheer size. Three on one wasn't so much fair, anyway. It worked out anyway, sometimes. That was how Scorpius had met Albus, after all, was when a second year Alexander Lacurr had Boot and another boy hold him while Alexander did the beating. Albus had always been a good person, and hopped in to stop the fighting, then smartly informed Scorpius he didn't give a damn what Scorpius' surname was. Not in those words, of course. He was a polite first year.

Scorpius didn't give a damn what people thought of him, not since that night and a few more when Albus had proven that the ones who were worth caring would be there whether he wanted them to be or not. He just found it irritating that Boot persisted in beating on him, especially when in a one-on-one Scorpius could easily break things, as he had proven just that morning. Though Boot was crafty, he had to admit. He had been so late to Herbology because after he had begun to saunter off, Boot had thrown a hex at his back, which had burned his skin and taken a bit of painful twisting to get his wand pointed at the right spot so he could heal it. One of these days it was going to come to a ferocious head, and then Weasley would finally get her wish and be able to punish him for defending himself. _And having fun with it,_ chided the sensible part of his mostly-nonexistent conscience.

The blonde rolled his eyes as he pulled his shirt off, tossing it on his bed, and moved to his dresser to get a new one. It was around that time that the door to the dorms creaked open. Shirt half-buttoned, Scorpius froze, and turned his head to see who it was. Alastair Martin slid in the room like the snake he was- _there _was a boy who should have been in another House. Slytherin. His thin face curled into a sinister smile. "Evening, Malfoy. Have a nice day, today? I expect not, what with that nasty burn you must have."

Oh, yeah, and Alastair was Boot's best friend. If either of those odious beings _had _anything in the ilk of a friend, that is. Scorpius sighed, trying not to dwell, and keep his mind focused on the conversation at hand. "Actually, my day was rather pleasant, Martin. I can't say the same for you, given your girlfriend slammed a plate into your face at lunch. Still together, by any chance?" He smirked. That had been the highlight of his day.

Alastair's face took on an ugly expression. "No," he snarled, turning away to grab some books off his night-stand.

Scorpius made a _tsk-tsk_ noise. "Testy, testy, Martin. Don't worry, I'm sure there will be some other girl who falls for your unctuous charms."

The other man's shoulders were tense as he moved through his belongings, looking for a quill. "I'm sure you're right, Malfoy."

"Malfoy, right?" asked Boot as he came into the room. Scorpius sighed, finishing buttoning his shirt and redoing his tie. He contemplated his ink-stained shirt, shrugged, and discarded it into the hamper as Boot continued. "The idiot can't even hold a decent conversation with that Weasley girl, let alone be right about something."

Scorpius clenched his jaw at that. "I'm a better student than you, Boot, and I can hold a conversation with anyone I so well choose."

"Was I talking to you?" Boot spat, returning his attention to Alastair.

"You were talking _about _me," Scorpius said loudly, walking over.

Boot ignored him. Alastair smirked at Scorpius' angry face. "Malfoy here was just reassuring me that some girl would be glad to date me even after Kiersten's performance at lunch."

Mark nodded. "Oh, I'm sure. Hey, how about Weasley? She's hot enough, perky, intelligent, and single." He grinned a tad maliciously on the last word. That was the downside to not making a secret of his attraction to Weasley. Any chance they got, Boot and Martin would torture him about his failure to get Weasley to even like him.

"You're right. Good idea, Boot. I'll be sure to talk her up tomorrow." Alastair smiled maliciously.

Scorpius clenched his jaw again and walked out. He could hear Boot and Martin laughing as the door swung shut behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm American. If I get climatology details wrong, sue me. Also, my first language is English not Latin, I made up the spell.**

**Disclaimer: I am not JKR. Thanks, but no. I am also not my little sister The Big Black Panther, though sometimes I wish I were she because TBBP is a wonderful author (go read her stuff), and if those who do read her stuff notice any material being exchanged back and forth, it's not plagiarism. Most of this stuff we came up with together. We do a lot of writing together, even if 0% of it makes it onto this site.**

**And the chapter is:**

Scorpius looked around the common room as he descended the stairs. Alicia Gildcrest, seventh year. Ryan Mathercomb, sixth year. Trevor Kent, seventh year and the only decent person he saw in the common room. Well, other than some first years, but they were too short and squeaky for him to bother with, and most of them had older siblings who had already corrupted them with, and they in turn were corrupting their new friends. Ahh, nepotism. Letting out a heavy sigh, the blonde tucked his book under his arm and continued out the door, waving to the bronze knocker as he left. She called after him, "It's late, you know, Mr. Malfoy. Be sure to be back before curfew, unlike normal."

"Of course," he called over his shoulder, lying through his teeth. When he got caught up in learning a new spell, like he planned on, he'd be at it for hours.

Scorpius chewed on his lip as he descended the stairs, rolling over some things in his head. He needed to go by Hagrid's hut and pick up some bones from the scrap pile the giant's pet hippogriff had created. They would be good for practicing the healing spells in the book, the Ravenclaw knew. Then he could either head back into the castle and practice in a hallway, so he was inside the castle before the teachers were patrolling the front doors, or he could stay outside for the night, like he did fairly often. Scorpius glanced over his shoulder in the general direction of Ravenclaw Tower, and the decision was made for him. He didn't want to be up there with Alastair in one of his moods. It was summer still; not like it wasn't warm enough outside. It would be a little chilly, but he could always cast a heating spell on his favorite rock if it got too cold.

Rubbing the back of his neck as he stepped outside, Scorpius reflected on how much life must have changed. He remembered his father's stories of Hogwarts before the final war. In those times, if he had looked crosswise at those doors while it was in the twilight hours like now, a professor would have pounced on him. Even with Voldemort having been supposedly gone, the world wasn't safe yet. Now, the world was safe from most folks, except the occasional horror stories of expat American wizards who thought they were something else and the rare leftover Voldemort supporters which Al told him about. Now, outside curfew was the same time as indoors curfew.

It was a lovely evening, making Scorpius glad he had decided to sleep outside. The sky was a pretty purple color, dusky, with red bleeding in the corner and setting fire to the lake where the sun touched the horizon. Summer flowers were still clinging strongly to life, dotting the ground with white and yellow and red and pink. Fireflies were just starting to come out, little flickers of gold in the sky. And of course Hogwarts itself was lovely as ever, a beautiful testament to medieval architecture and the general awesomeness of castles. Green grass bent underfoot as Scorpius made his way across the grounds towards Hagrid's hut, a small stone cottage on the edge of the Forbidden Forest and near the paddocks for Care of Magical Creatures. He would get a few long bones from the cow legs Hagrid had fed his animals, those should be perfect for practicing the new healing spells.

Hopping the rough wooden fence, Scorpius looked around the paddock. No animals were awake and the hippogriffs were inside, so no bowing would need to be done for now. He grasped two of the long bones in his right hand and hopped back over, heading toward the Forest. Scorpius would not be going very far in; there was a little stream near the paddock, a pretty little spot, and most importantly hidden from the castle's eyes. Not that he minded if anyone saw him; all he was doing was learning magic. It was a school of magic, after all. Scorpius just didn't want to be caught out after curfew. He'd worry about that later, when he went to the lake to sleep on his favorite rock.

Pine needles and thinning grass rustled underfoot as he headed into the forest, making Scorpius wish for fall when leaves crunched underfoot in the forest. He loved summer because he didn't have to see anyone from school, but fall, with the air crisp and cool, was the best time of year. Scorpius hoped fall would come fast this year, because it was abnormally warm outside for this time of year. It would make Quidditch almost unbearable, especially since- knowing Madam Hooch had a soft spot for Al- the Gryffindors would get the pitch in the mornings and the Ravenclaws would get it in the afternoon, in the heat of the day.

Running a hand through his hair, Scorpius crouched down on a rock and set the book down in front of him, open to the right page. He scanned the plain font carefully, making sure he knew exactly what he was doing, before snapping one bone over his knee. Realigning the bone carefully, he cast the spell- "Osteocuratus!"

Scorpius watched as the bone started to knit, then faltered and splintered again, partially healed. He broke the bone again and cast the spell again. "Osteocuratus!"

It took six more casts before he got the bone to heal, though it reknit itself crookedly. Scorpius then got to work practicing on the other bone, which it only took three tries and it healed straight. He worked on the spell until he could cast it perfectly on the first try, and the two bones were completely deformed from being broken and healed so repetitively. Scorpius grinned slightly, tossing the bones into the woods. He had no need for them now.

Standing and stretching, the Ravenclaw walked towards the twinkling castle, following the trail out of the forest that was barely visible in the purple light. It was almost dark in the forest, so he cast Lumos, throwing golden shadows over the trees.

He extinguished the light when he got out of the forest, not caring to draw overmuch attention to himself. Scorpius continued to walk towards the castle for another hundred meters or so, before veering towards the Black Lake and a cluster of rocks laid out on the shore. There was one rock, smooth and just the right size for his height, with just the right depressions for his body. It was really quite comfortable to sleep on, and hidden from view by taller rocks around it, making it the perfect place to sleep outside. Scorpius stretched out on his rock, looking up at the stars with a slight smile on his face. It was a beautiful night.

Drifting in and out of sleep, he wasn't sure if it was an hour later or just a minute later when he cracked an eye to see Rose Weasley's face hovering above his, lit from behind by the pale light of the crescent moon. Scorpius sat up drowsily, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hullo, Weasley. Am I dreaming?" he asked curiously.

She looked taken aback. "Most certainly not, unless I am, in which case tonight is a nightmare. What the bloody hell are you doing out here?"

"I think I could ask you the same," Scorpius returned, having wakened a bit more after her swearing.

"Flitwick asked me to take the grounds patrol for him, not that it should matter to you. Why are you out here, for the second time?" Rose was beginning to look peevish as she tucked a lock of red hair behind an ear, scowling slightly. No doubt because Malfoy had ruined what was supposedly a simple task of walking the grounds.

"Having my beauty sleep, what's it look like?"

"Nothing could make you beautiful except a bulldozer to the face, Malfoy."

"That hurts, Weasley. Go away, would you? I was sleeping very peacefully before you came along to snap at me." Scorpius laid back down, his grey eyes not leaving her blue.

"Get in the castle before I take points from Ravenclaw."

"Why haven't you yet?"

She shrugged. "Feeling too churlish to care. Shoo."

Scorpius sighed. "No, Weasley. I rather prefer in here to my common room, actually."

Rose looked a bit surprised. Scorpius was not shocked by her reaction; after all, Rose was a member of one of the most well-loved wizarding families as opposed to one of the most notorious and hated, and she had friends in her house. Scorpius, on the other hand, was not what you could call a beloved member of the wizarding community. And the one true, best friend he did have, who happened to be Rose's best friend as well, was in Gryffindor. With Rose. "Why?" she asked, snapping Scorpius back to reality.

"This is a rather comfortable rock, it's a beautiful night, and it's quite pleasant outside."

"Rocks are no place to sleep."

"It seems to work well for mountain goats, yeah?"

"You're not a mountain goat, Malfoy."

"I have the shaggy blonde hair, the dexterity in high places, the affinity for rocks. Who's to say I'm not?"

"Get inside."

"Why does it matter to you?"

She looked surprised again. "Because you're not supposed to sleep outside!"

"Come on, Weasley. Live a little. By that I mean go away and let me live my own life in peace. Without you pestering me while I'm trying to sleep." Scorpius had indeed closed his eyes by now, hands folded over his chest peacefully.

Rose scoffed, and he heard shoes scraping on the dirt as she turned on her heel, and the skitter of rocks across the ground as she walked away. "Good night, Weasley."

He got no answer.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Pretty good response on the last chapter. Keep it up now y'all! (And sorry for lateness!)**

**Disclaimer: Not JKR, nor The Big Black Panther, though the latter and I do exchange material, and I borrow heavily from the former. (Otherwise what am I doing here, yeah?)**

Rose blinked, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She'd spent the whole night reading, without even realizing how long it had been. She had been invested in a tome about Bulgarian wizarding history, what seemed like a dry read, but it was really quite fascinating. Al had mocked her mercilessly for it when he came down into the common room that morning to find her asleep on the couch, book clutched in her hands.

The redhead was sitting across from Al at the breakfast table, discussing Lily Potter's love life. "Albus, I found her in the broom closets three times on patrol last night. With different guys each time. You need to do something!"

Al just groaned, smacking his forehead on the table. "Do you know how many times James and I have tried to run an intervention? I mean Merlin, the girl can't keep her hands to herself. We got off the train at the end of term last year, and Lily had already found her then-boyfriend. Dad about had a heart attack!"

Lily walked over, catching the tail end of their conversation. "Al, it's not like I intend for anything to happen. I'm careful, don't worry!"

Al made a strangled sound, glaring at his sister. "I didn't need to hear that!"

She smirked, brushing back her red hair. "Now who has a dirty mind?" Lily asked, patting Al on the shoulder before going to find Alice Longbottom, her year mate and best friend.

Al merely groaned, making Rose snicker a little at the poor boy's distress. Al about that moment, there was a thud as Scorpius sat down next to Al, straddling the bench. "Morning, sunshine," Scorpius greeted his friend, grinning a bit too cheerfully for Rose's tastes.

"What have you done?" Rose asked him sharply, sure he had gotten into some sort of trouble since last night. The blonde turned his head to look at her, grey eyes sparkling mischievously.

"I just had a good night's sleep, that's all," he said, still smiling.

Al just laughed. "Will you two ever stop bickering?"

"Bickering implies friendliness. We have never bickered," Rose retorted, glaring at the (admittedly) amiable Ravenclaw across the table from her.

Scorpius snorted. "Bickering by definition is arguing. We bicker all the time."

"There you go again," Al sighed.

"Here, am I not allowed to come talk to my best friend in peace?" Scorpius asked, turning back to Al. "So have you settled times for your tryouts? I'm holding mine tomorrow morning, I've asked for the pitch."

"So have I… McGee says I can have it around ten. I do remember her saying something about another team holding tryouts tomorrow, too… How many positions are open on your team?" Al asked. Rose sighed, taking a bite of eggs forlornly. They were talking about Quidditch. Merlin, she doubted she would be able to speak to Al for another hour.

"Just the Keeper position. Belby was the only seventh year last year, oddly enough."

"Hmm. So you shouldn't be long, then. Explains why McGee is letting us have tryouts on the same day."

"Suppose so. Hey, have you finished that summer work for the Slug? We have him today."

Al rolled his eyes. "Yes. Aren't you Ravenclaws supposed to be, I don't know, smart?"

"That's enough of your abuses, Potter. I'm smarter than you are." Scorpius grinned good-naturedly. "I can actually play Quidditch."

"Ravenclaw only won that last match because you made me laugh with that stupid joke!" Al protested, and Rose remembered now. Al had been complaining Scorpius' name was too much of a mouthful so he needed a nickname, and Scorpius had suggested- as he put it- "Scor, because that's what I'll be doing on the pitch today". Ravenclaw's Seeker had got the Snitch, because Al burst out laughing every time Scorpius flew past him.

"It wasn't stupid, it was very clever. Something else we Ravenclaws can hold over Gryffindors." Scorpius smirked at Al's petulant face, and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Well, mate, I'd best be off before some bloke decides to have at it."

He grinned when Al rolled his eyes, both boys laughing, though Rose knew now that the long-standing joke between the boys contained a bit of truth. Scorpius slid off the bench and strolled back to his own table with typical Malfoy arrogance. Rose pursed her lips at his retreating back.

"What?" Al asked, noticing her movement.

"Sorry," Rose apologized, out of reflex. "I just don't care for him."

"Hate him is more like," Al chuckled. "Though I don't see why. Your list of things to like is intelligence, sense of humor, diligence, cares about school, and if in a prospective boyfriend, physical appearance. Scorpius is smart, obviously, and he has a sense of humor otherwise _I_ wouldn't like him, he's diligent because he refuses to not like you, he's tied with you for first in the year and he hangs out in the Herbology room so he cares about school, and I've heard enough girls gossiping to know he's considered attractive by your gender."

Rose rolled her eyes at Al's persistent nagging. "Albus, I don't like him. Give it up. Some things our opinions differ on- you like him enough to vacation with him and his family in Spain over the summer, I like him just enough to not hex his face off when I see him. And that's mostly because I like _you_."

Al snorted. "Just keep on kidding yourself, Rosie." He checked his watch. "Come on, let's get to class."

**** Next Day

Rose flipped through the pages of notes, hair simultaneously tucked behind her ear and draping over her face, quill in hand and lip between her teeth, looking rather like a flat-red-haired version of her mother. She was sitting cross-legged on the rock by the lake, basking in the sunlight of the day. It was pleasant out, if a little warm, and she knew Al was itching to be on the pitch, though today he was sitting beside her on another rock, because today the first years had broomstick lessons.

Al was twitching, bouncing up and down on his knees. "It's a damn shame. What first year doesn't know how to ride a broom already?" he growled.

"Your dad," Rose said absently, more focused on her schoolwork than the few first years visible floating above the bleachers of the Quidditch pitch.

Al spluttered something about how his dad had been the exception to the rule, which just made Rose roll her eyes, and she tuned him out. These notes on the Protean Charm were fascinating. She knew her mother had been able to do the spell since she was fifteen, and it had come in handy for both the student-led Dumbledore's Army and the Dumbledore-led Order of the Phoenix. Rose could not wait until they learned the spell, which would be later that week, hopefully. She chewed her lip a moment more before sighing, setting down her quill. "Albus?" she asked.

"Yes?" He stilled, setting down the handful of rocks he had been about to throw.

"Go away. You're disturbing my study time."

"Studying is for gits like Uncle Percy," Al muttered under his breath as he collected his things and walked off, predictably towards the Quidditch pitch. Rose snorted, shaking her head. Uncle Percy wasn't so bad, but more than that, Al had met her mother, right?

She scratched out a bit of her notes and rewrote them more neatly in the margins, then got bored of studying (not that she would ever tell Al that) and started doodling on a scrap bit of parchment. Rose drew an intricate Celtic-style design around a flower, something she'd been fond of doing for who knew how long, then set aside the scrap and picked back up her notes. Tapping her nose with the tip of her quill, then furiously scribbling, Rose was not alerted to the presence of someone else in her little bubble until a shadow fell across her parchment. The redhead jumped, looking up.

A tall, suave-looking fellow with brown hair and dark eyes stood there, smiling silkily at her- Alastair Martin, she remembered his name was. A Ravenclaw, so he shared a dorm with Malfoy, though Rose did not know why that came into her head. Or why she cared. "Hullo," Rose told him, returning her attention to the notes.

"Rose, good morning," he told her with a smile.

Rose gave him a small, half-hearted smile in return when she glanced up at him again. "Alastair, right?" she asked lightly, trying to be polite even though she was a bit annoyed he had disturbed her studying. Obviously, she had made her own cousin leave for doing the same thing.

"Yes! Alastair Martins. It's good to see you, yeah?" His smile widened, and Rose smiled a bit at him. He did have a rather charming smile. "Say, ah, would you be interested in going to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"

She blinked at him. That was unexpected. He was attractive enough, in a tall and dark sort of way, and charming, and it was not like she had anyone else she was interested in. Rose pushed away the unwanted memory of Albus's words from yesterday. Scorpius Malfoy was certainly not a _someone else._ "Sure, Alastair. That would be nice."

A certain passing blonde froze, grey eyes wide in disbelief.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Was doing NaNoWriMo last month. That's why I didn't update. For those of you who know what that is, I won! Yay.**

**Chappie's short but present. I stopped at a good place for me, anyway. You'll see what I mean.**

**Disclaimer: Disclaimed.**

Scorpius shook his head, pacing up and down the hall angrily. He should have been in Potions class right now, but he did not care. Slughorn hated him, anyway. So instead of brewing some pointless poison or love concoction like Slughorn was apt to teaching, Scorpius paced up and down an empty hallway on the seventh floor, not too far from the old Room of Requirement, which still smelled rather smoky.

Back and forth, back and forth. Scorpius ran an angry hand through his blonde hair in the bad habit he picked up from the Potters, still in a state of semi-shock. He had left before Rose saw him, though Alastair had seen and smirked.

She agreed to go on a date with him.

Alastair Martins, a slimy, unctuous, vile, hateful, cruel, steaming disgrace for a Ravenclaw, who used his wit for evil rather than any form of what could be construed or even misconstrued as good. How could she fall for that? Scorpius could not help but think he may have overestimated her, or underestimated Alastair. Alastair could be charming, Scorpius knew. He had managed to get multiple girls to go out with him over the years, and Scorpius was fairly certain the other Ravenclaw was- ah- _experienced_, at least if his bragging in the dorms was to be believed.

Just, still- Scorpius thought Rose was smarter than that.

Smarter than falling for the man who got his way through life with a greasy smile and a confident attitude. _Smarter than falling for the spawn of evil, _added his less rational side. His rational side quickly took back over, though he supposed even his rational side must not be too rational if he was here, pacing the halls and cutting class to have an inner monologue ranting about a girl that did not even like him at all, much less the way he liked her. Scorpius shook his head again, rubbing the back of his neck and falling against the rough stone.

He was hardly aware of the passage of time until a familiar head of messy black hair poked around the corner. "You here, Scorpius?" Al nodded to himself when he saw the blonde. "Figured. Somehow you always end up in this corridor when you're stressed, and you weren't in Potions so I figured you were stressed… What's up, mate?"

"Tell Rose not to go on the date with Alastair."

"What? She's what?"

"You heard me! She's bloody going out with Alastair Martins!"

"So?"

That was when Scorpius remembered that he had never told Al about what-all Alastair had done to him over the years. It was all psychological, though there were a few curses that Scorpius was pretty sure had been Martins' handiwork, and of course, Boot was in the man's pocket, but Scorpius had never thought it necessary to tell Albus. Al only knew about Boot because he walked in on them going at it in first year, after all.

Scorpius clenched his jaw, for once wishing he had listened to Albus when the man had told him to be a little more open. "Martins is… not good. For Rose or anyone. I don't have the time or will to explain why, but please, trust me on this, Al."

Al's brow was furrowed, and the black-haired boy adjusted his glasses. "I'll pass the message on, sure, though I don't think she'll much listen, mate."

Sighing, "I don't figure she will, either, but I have to try. I'm serious when I say Martins is a cruel individual. He's bad news."

"You've said that."

"I know!" he snapped. Scorpius spun in an angry circle. "Al, I know."

Albus was watching him carefully, his green eyes rather sad and puppy dog like. He nodded. "I'll talk to her. Don't worry, Scorpius. Now, would you care to go to the pitch? I believe I have some Ravenclaw ass to be kicking at Quidditch."

Laughing at the sudden change in tone and topic, Scorpius agreed. "You only wish, Potter."

The friends walked side by side out to the Quidditch pitch, empty in the early afternoon now that all classes were finished for the day. Grabbing their brooms from their respective team lock-ups, the boys gave each other mock glares before Scorpius unlocked Madam Hooch's box. "Are we playing for Snitch or Quaffle?" Scorpius asked. Albus was Gryffindor Seeker while Scorpius was a Chaser, so when the two scrimmaged they either did one or the other. Not both. That would have been difficult.

"Quaffle. Play to one hundred?"

"Sounds good." Scorpius pulled out the Quaffle and spun it on his finger, rather like a Muggle basketball. Tucking it under his arm, he dashed out after Al, who was already outside and in the air. Taking a right and running up the stairs to the stands, Scorpius tossed the red ball out to Albus, who caught it deftly.

Scorpius then pushed off the edge of the stands and leapt into the air, landing on his broom midair and zooming off to catch Al, who had no respect and was already zipping towards the Ravenclaw goalpost. "Showoff!" said Gryffindor yelled over his shoulder. "Why can't you ever push off the ground like a normal person?"

"What fun would that be?" Scorpius yelled forward, then he dived to underneath Al and pulled up sharply, coming up from below to push the Quaffle out of Al's arm and grab it. He retreated to the Gryffindor goalpost, easily shooting it through.

Al was shaking his head sadly, right beside Scorpius again. "This is why I never play Chaser," he sighed, rather lamenting.

"You asked for it, Potter," Scorpius informed him as he scored again.

"Oh, did I?" Al asked, a bit of pep rein fused in his voice, and the Gryffindor pulled out all the stops, actually giving Scorpius a run for his money for a few minutes of fast-paced flying. Then Scorpius scored his tenth goal, bringing the points to one hundred. "Foul!" AL immediately called.

"What? How is that a foul?" Scorpius protested, grinning. They both knew Al was just being petty.

Al scowled. "I don't know! But it was!"

Scorpius snickered at his friend's "plight". They flew down to the ground together, one glance towards the clock tower in the distance telling them that it was nearly dinner. When they were inside the building (and appreciating the cool interior air), Scorpius murmured, "Don't forget to talk to her, Ok mate?"

"Ok, Ok, don't worry. I got it covered."

"Are you sure?"

Albus stopped, spinning Scorpius and slapping his hands on the (barely) taller boy's shoulders. "Scorpius. Shut up. I get it. You don't like Martins. He skeeves you out. Whatever. I will pass the message along to our resident redhead."

"Lily's a redhead too," Scorpius pointed out.

Al shushed him petulantly. "Not the point. Come on, let's eat. I'm starving."


	8. Chapter 8

Bated Breath

**A/N: For those who know, I think I may have emulated James Joyce a bit in some parts of the chapter, specifically the stuff right after the Room. (You'll see.) Oh and this one ran kinda long, longer than I expected. Good, yeah?**

**A/N Regarding Continuity: I've made Mark Boot a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw at different points in the story. I like him better as a Ravenclaw. (Especially seeing as he's the son of Terry Boot, who was a Ravenclaw.) No one has told me they noticed, but I have, so figured I should clear that up.**

**Disclaimer: Disclaimed.**

Chapter Eight

Albus sat next to Rose, one of his patronizing, I-know-what's-best looks on his face. Rose scowled at him, already not liking where this conversation was going. "Now, I am here to express… The concerns of a friend, that's a good way to put it, yeah." Albus put a hand on her shoulder, meeting her blue eyes seriously.

"What the hell, Al?" Rose asked succinctly, not wasting time pandering with words like Albus was.

"Alastair Martins is no good." Albus' face was grim, and whatever he was saying was important to him.

Rose wrinkled her nose at him. "Please, tell me what you're going off about." If it was what she thought it was, coming from who she thought it was, then Rose did not know she _wanted_ to know. Scorpius Malfoy could keep his damn stuck-up nose in his own business, and out of her goddamned love life. He had _no right_.

Albus made a face at the petulant redhead, knowing as usual what was going through her head. "I'm going off, that Alastair is a git and an egghead and a malicious bastard, regardless of your own opinions and regardless of what Scorpius thinks I know, I see things, I know things, I mean I'm the king of pranks and knowledge and nothing happens in this school that I don't know about… Scorpius thinks I'm doing this just for him, but it's not just for him it's for you, because Martins is trouble and he'll take you out with him, Rosie, so don't do it."

The girl blinked, not having expected that. Al was usually very fond of brevity in his speeches, but that was long and rambling and… sincere, but she tried to forget the last. Regardless, the speech originated from Malfoy, and she would never listen to him, because that git was just thinking of himself. Rose would not let his petty arguments with Alastair get in her way of having a good time with a charming bloke. If Al wanted her to watch herself, he should never have mentioned Scorpius Malfoy. "Albus, relax. I will be fine. Alastair is a perfectly nice guy, so just relax."

Her nosy raven-haired cousin made a face. He shook his head, running a hand through his messy hair and adjusting the glasses that covered his bright green eyes. Rose noted, not for the first time, that he really did look exactly like his father did in the pictures of Harry from school. "Ok, if you say so, Rosie…" Albus still looked terribly dubious, for which she supposed she could not blame him.

There was, after all, still that niggling voice of reason behind her mule-headed consciousness that reminded her that when Al was concerned, it was for good reason. The bloke was very easy-going for the most part. When he was concerned, it was usually over something incredibly serious. Or his Herbology homework, which was the only reason Rose could give herself to ignore his anxiousness.

"I do say so, so shut it and leave me alone," Rose snapped, pushing her flaming hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ear. Al grimaced and held up his hands in surrender.

Later that night, while Rose was on patrol, she found herself walking along the abandoned seventh floor corridor where the Room of Requirement was located. Rose absently walked back and forth along the corridor, not really thinking of where she was, just how she needed to clear her head. It was almost a month into school, October fast approaching. So far, Rose had not gotten a single full night's sleep, between dealing with Malfoy crap and studying for NEWTs and keeping Lily Potter out of broom closets.

Speaking of… She opened the door to a broom closet that she had not noticed before, hearing noises from inside it. Rose gasped when she saw what was there; it was not a broom closet, but the door to the Room of Requirement. It was opening into a forest, like the one on the ground floor where Firenze taught astrology and healing and other Centaur arts. A stream ran through the center of it all, which was the sound Rose had heard outside.

She moved farther into the room, looking around in wonder still, not able to help but sit down on a mossy stone by the stream, leaning her back against a conveniently nearby oak tree. It was beautiful in here, and she closed her blue eyes and fell asleep to the sounds of gurgling brook and chirping birds and the feel of warm sun on her skin. (At night? But she did not push thinking it too hard. The Room was, after all, magic.)

Rose jumped up with a start, gasping, wide eyes looking around the room. It was still the same beautiful forest, but when she checked her watch, it was three thirty in the morning. She should have been back in the common room _hours_ ago. Rose leapt to her feet, running from the room and dusting her skirt off as she went. When she closed the wooden door behind her, it melted back into the stone wall.

Pacing quietly along the stone corridors back to the Gryffindor common room, Rose kept her fingers crossed. The Marauders' Map was in Al's possession, and he hardly let her use it except on the rare occasions she was too tired or had too much homework to do her rounds, in which case he let her keep an eye on it as she did her work. Seeing as she did not have it, the redhead had no idea if she would be caught out of bounds. Head Girl or no, no students were to be out of their common rooms after midnight, for any cause. She almost did not hear the noise through her thoughts, but at the last second she heard it.

The vague yet still solid sound of a body slamming against a wall, and a few quiet grunts. Oh, pleasant. Rose made an inward face at having to break up some persons "getting down", as Al or Lily would put it. What if it was Lily… Rose gagged, but steeled her features and pushed aside the tapestry of a unicorn painting a Van Gogh, to reveal the secret passageway which would be stage for the unfolding drama.

This passageway opened onto spiral stairs, which Rose recalled lead to a small landing which divided further into three sets of stairs which all took you to different floors of the castle. The sounds were coming from the little landing, which Rose supposed she should be grateful for. She was spared a few more seconds from having to see the couple, and hopefully her footsteps would give them a few seconds' warning during which they could get decent if needed. Pursing her lips, our redheaded heroine descended the stairs, pausing when she heard talking.

"It's not like you deserve better- after all, you are a sick Death Eater…"

"Better than a pathetic Ravenclaw who resorts to beating up eleven year olds to vent the pain of being a f*cking _martyr_ for taking on _Malfoy_ on behalf of the rest of the school. You can't even throw a punch right."

Rose was frozen, mouth in a tiny 'o' as she realized this was not a mid-night snogging, but a fight. Between Mark Boot and Scorpius Malfoy. Well, she finally had him, at least. Now she could get him expelled. That was what she wanted, right? But not what Albus wanted. Scorpius- no, Malfoy- was Albus' best friend. Could she do that to her cousin?

The answer waited to be seen. Rose rounded the corner down the stairs, flinching as there was the sickening crunch of fist on a nose, something she had become acquainted with more than she cared to admit, during her years as prefect. It reflected poorly on the school that so many people got in fistfights. What happened to a good old-fashioned hex? They were _wizards_, after all, not savages.

Mark Boot and Scorpius Malfoy froze when her footsteps echoed down the hall. Scorpius was holding one hand over his nose, which gushed blood, and Mark Boot was nursing what appeared to be a broken arm. Both boys were generally bloody, with abrasions on their face and probably lots of bruises under their mussed shirts. Merlin's pants.

"What are you two doing?" Rose declared, voice sharper than she felt. Inside, she was just shocked. This was… violent. More than she had expected. She felt rather weak at the knees. "No, never mind, don't tell me. Boot, fifty points from Ravenclaw and get out of here before I make it seventy-five. Malfoy, stay here." She hoped her glare was more murderous than the tingling sympathy she felt inside for him. Damn her empathetic nature.

Boot quickly retreated, leaving Rose alone in the hallway, with Malfoy. The tall blonde was watching her carefully, still pinching his nose to stem the blood. "Here, I'll heal it," Rose said automatically, reaching for her wand, but he shook his head.

"I got it." Scorpius tilted his head back, stopping the blood, then drew his wand and muttered the spell. "Ennervate." With a crunch, the cartilage realigned, though Rose noticed for the first time that his nose had not healed straight and probably had not for a long time. That meant his nose had been healed too much, enough so that it was developing resistance to the spell.

She tugged her lower lip with her teeth, then sighed and put her hands on her waist. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Scorpius had a handkerchief to his nose. For some reason, it reminded her of a time she'd run into him on the train, in fifth year. Oh Merlin, had he been fighting then, too? Regardless, a moment later he lowered the handkerchief, face clear of blood. The cloth must have been spelled, otherwise it never would have done the job in one swipe. "I thought that was obvious, Weasley."

His cutting sarcasm did nothing to aide her good temper. She scowled, on the verge of done with being nice to him. She did have her father's temper, after all, and goodness knows _he_ had a tough time being nice to folks he did not like. Rose thought back to the one time she had met Draco Malfoy, when she and her father had gone to work to meet her mom at work over the summer. Malfoy the elder had been in a meeting with her mum; as head of International Magical Cooperation and with her mum trying to get S.P.E.W.'s international branches more recognition, they were bound to have meetings once in a while. Her dad had not seen it so starkly. The atmosphere had been chilly at best between the two men.

"What's obvious is that you're a base lunatic with a bloody face, an unsettling aptitude for healing spells, and a crooked nose. What's not obvious is why the hell you let yourself be that way." Rose crossed her arms, cocking her hip. Horns lowered.

"I thought I was a mountain goat," Scorpius- Malfoy, she reminded herself again- chuckled. Her scowl grew deeper; passing this off with humor was _not_ going to cut it.

"Malfoy!" she snapped.

"Yes, Weasley?" Rose noticed with a certain trepidation and an unsettling feeling in her stomach that he had taken a step closer to her. Her eyes flitted up and down his tall, broad-shouldered form for a moment before returning to his face. Abrasions and cuts were still visible on his pale skin.

"You are not a damn mountain goat, you're a human being with serious issues." Rose took a deep breath, surprised she had uttered those words to him. This was _Malfoy_, for goodness' sake. Her enemy. Not that she was his enemy, apparently. "Laughing them smaller won't make them go away."

Malfoy took another step closer. "My only issue right now is that you're nosing into what's none of your business."

Rose took a step back, jumping when she bumped into the stone wall. He had her now, whatever it was the lunatic planned on doing. "Oh, and you're not?" she snapped, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. Game on, Malfoy.

He looked visibly confused for a moment. "Let me clear it up for you," Rose said in a slow drawl, mimicking the lazy tone Malfoy used when addressing Albus (the two had a very sarcastic relationship; too sarcastic, in her opinion). "Alastair Martins. He is a perfectly nice bloke, one whom I have a right to date. I have a right to happiness, Malfoy! It's not like he's going to drug me and get me into bed or anything!" She felt her voice edging on hysteria, but Rose did not care.

Malfoy's face darkened with the barest hint of a scowl at that. He quickly replaced that expression with a look of blasé innocence. "What would I have to do with Alastair and your happiness?"

"Don't you look at me like that," she hissed, straightening and taking a step towards _him_ this time, unintentionally throwing their bodies into closer proximity. The blood was boiling in her veins. "I know you told Albus I couldn't date him. You have _no right_. No right!"

"I get it! I have no right! Except I _do_ have a right, as I _live _with the bloke. I know what he's _like_. And I care about- Albus," he finished lamely, the name definitely coming as a substitution.

She wrinkled her nose, knowing his poorly veiled lust for her. "What the heck does Albus have to do with anything?" Rose asked, curious to see what he would pull out of his arse.

Malfoy scowled at her. "Albus is my friend, and you're his cousin, so if you're with a bad bloke that affects him." Okay, so that was almost halfway decent. It was still a load of hippogriff dung.

"Whatever. Just go before I dock more points from Ravenclaw." Rose fell back against the wall, putting about a foot of space between the two rather than the mere inches from a moment ago.

His pale eyes studied her face for a moment, making Rose squirm uncomfortably, before Malfoy turned on his heel and left. "Good night, Weasley."

She did not bother responding.


	9. Chapter 9

Bated Breath

**Disclaimer: I'm not satisfied completely with this chapter. Oh, and I don't own anything except for some OC's and they don't count if they're in another person's book series.**

**A/N: Scorpius is in a very good mood… Let's see if I can kill it.**

Chapter Nine

Quidditch tryouts. Scorpius made a face, wondering how many good players would skip trying out for Keeper that afternoon seeing as _he_, scourge and shame of Ravenclaw, was Quidditch Captain. The blond rubbed the back of his neck, leaning back in his seat. Regardless of that outcome, for now he would watch Albus replace half his team.

Al needed a Keeper and two Chasers. James, Al's older brother, had been Chaser and Head Boy along with his girlfriend and fellow Head, Tanya Peters. Both left last year, along with the Keeper, Carter Wood. Carter followed in his father's footsteps to become an early draft for Puddlemere United, and Tanya became Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies; James went into Auror training, like the brothers' famous father.

Scorpius' eyes flicked down to where a curly redhead was being forcefully propelled towards the middle of the pitch by a redhead with straight hair and Quidditch robes on. Rose did not look very pleased about being here, but Lily and Al thought she had what it took. Scorpius, of course, had never seen her play, but based on the usual ferocity with which Rose completed tasks, he had no doubt Al and Lily were right. Thanks to the acoustics of the pitch, Al's yelling could be heard when he brought the tryouts to order.

"All right, my home boys and girls! Settle down!" Al had a huge, insufferable grin on his face, and the red-robed Seeker waved his arms to catch the mob's attention. The crowd of Gryffindors quieted, turning their faces towards Albus and the three players behind him. Lily, his little sister, a firebrand on the pitch and in life, who was the school heartbreaker. Hugo Weasley, Al's cousin and Rose's little brother, who was in his fifth year alongside Lily, and while not the best in academics, was murder on the pitch, a 'bloody Quidditch genius' as Al put it. And Brad Jameson, a sixth year with curly brown hair and a puppy face, who was a surprisingly good Beater with a massive crush on Lily Potter.

"Today we're going to be testing your skills. Those I deem have the most skills will make the team; or most humorous skills depending on my mood at the end of the day."

"Not all day, I still have to hold tryouts, too!" Scorpius yelled down, grinning. Al gave him a mock scowl and a rude hand gesture which earned him a sharp reprimand from Rose and a laugh from everyone else.

"What my esteemed fellow Captain is trying and failing to say, as he does at life in general, is that these tryouts with not be an all-day affair. It'll only take be watching you all about five minutes in the air and I will have decided who makes the team. Hell, I have a pretty good idea just looking at you all standing there." Al's bright green eyes roved the assembled Gryffindors. "All I need to see is how you handle the broom, and if you can deal with a Quaffle. Not even well, just be able to deal with it. The rest we can work on; Professor McGonagall was kind enough to make sure we don't start in the season until November. Unlike those poor blokes in Ravenclaw, who'll be playing from mid-October and on." Al grinned, as now Scorpius made the rude hand gesture.

Al clapped his hands together, looking over the group again. He then pointed to the air and gave the simple command, "Fly."

The potential team members looked at each other in confusion- well, most of them did. A few, including Rose, Lorcan Scamander, this girl Scorpius vaguely remembered was named Alicia Finnegan, and a Latin-looking boy who Lily called Fabio but was really named George all kicked into the air. Scorpius snickered as the half-dozen that had gone into the air obeyed, in varying degrees of fanciness, the simple command. The rest of the mob on the ground soon followed suit, with Al's green eyes restlessly following their motions.

Scorpius knew Al well enough to know who his friend would choose, based on that result. Rose, of course, because Albus had already confided to Scorpius that she was a shoe-in regardless of her opinion on the matter. Fabio/George would have been Al's choice for the second Chaser, but the whole Gryffindor house knew that Lily wanted to snog him, so George was out of the question. Alicia Finnegan had a direct but skilled approach to the matter, making her a good option for Keeper, or Chaser even. Lorcan's twin brother Lysander, who was another to have kicked off right at the start, was just hovering in the air (which was technically flying), eyes warily on Albus and also keeping an eye on his brother, who kept trying and failing to knock him off. He would be a good Keeper.

Al then called the group back to the ground, a smirk on his face. "I've chosen my team," he told them, to a chorus of "What?"s and a few "Are you kidding me?"s.

Scorpius grinned when Al nodded and barked out the names. "Alicia, Rose, you two are Chasers. Lysander, you'll be my new Keeper. Welcome to the team. Sorry to the rest of you, you were all for the most part talented. If you're not a seventh year, try again next year when Hugo's the captain. OK, you can all go now." Albus waved his hand and started off in the direction of the locker rooms, leaving behind him a group of startled and shell-shocked Gryffindors holding broomsticks. (Those who were related to Al were merely snickering slightly, knowing him well enough to know that was just his personality. Scorpius was bent over laughing, which drew him several dirty looks from the cluster of students.)

Scorpius removed his feet from the edge of the stands and stood with a flourish, jogging down to the locker rooms so he could get ready before his own team's tryouts. He passed Al, high fiving him automatically. "I knew you'd pick that lot," he informed Al, slowing down and walking backwards.

Albus paused, crossing his arms and turning to face Scorpius, one eyebrow raised. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I also figure you didn't pick that George bloke because your little sister wants in his pants." Scorpius sniggered at the sullen look on Al's face, giving Albus a brief wave before opening the locker room door.

He caught sight of Rose coming out of the girls' locker room, looking between Scorpius (whose shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter) and Albus, who still looked peeved. "What the hell?" she asked blandly, making Scorpius laugh out loud as the door closed behind him.

His good temper continued all the way through putting up with his own team tryouts, which mercifully did not last long. (Complete with dirty looks and angry whispers and such as he got.)

Luckily, Scorpius did indeed end up with a new Keeper. Unfortunately, the new Keeper was this tiny little second year named Rebecca, who talked a lot and refused to shut up and stop bugging Scorpius. She was fast, though, so Scorpius chose her over the slower, bigger sixth year that shot him death glares. Rebecca was cute, with high brunette pigtails and freckles and a cheerful smile, and she was insufferable. Muggleborn, so she did not know that talking to Scorpius was taboo. Which, of course, meant she never shut up.

"So why does everyone in Ravenclaw hate you? I mean, I never really noticed it last year- too busy learning about the new school and all that- but then I saw it this year with that Mark Boot guy, you guys were arguing _reeeeally_ loudly, and I asked somebody, and they said that you were and I quote, 'a good-for-nothing bastard'. Why would people call you that? I mean, you seem nice enough, even if you and that Albus guy do bicker like an old married couple and you're always punching the lights out of Mark Boot, but you still seem nice enough."

Scorpius continued walking up to the castle, not deeming to answer that. The kid was cute, but not that cute, and her mouth had been moving so fast, Scorpius was not even sure what she had _said_, much less how to answer. She was about four feet shorter than him, too. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but she could not be any taller than four feet tall, and with Scorpius' six-foot four, two feet was quite a bit of difference. Her head was craned to see him as she walked beside him. Scorpius glanced down at her, brows scrunched slightly as he tried to decide if it was worth responding, given that she was staring at him with these wide, curious eyes.

"In popular opinion, I'm no better than the lowest scum of the earth."

"But why? And what does that even mean? Does that have anything to do with these Death Eater guys my friend Chrissy read about? She's a bookworm, she reads a lot, and she checked out this book about contemporary history and the second war, and it was talking about Death Eaters and there was this one guy named Draco Malfoy mentioned, and I thought of you because that's your last name, but I know you're not a Death Eater because you're too nice, Chrissy was bullied a lot last year by Mark Boot but you stopped him and he hasn't bugged her since then, so you're too nice to be a Death Eater but then again, how common can the name Malfoy be?"

Scorpius flinched ever-so-slightly. 'Course that would get brought up by the annoying little pipsqueak. No, he should not say that, he was just irritated. She was nice enough. Nicer than everyone else in the House, if blindingly naïve. But oh yes, his father got brought up quite a bit by his fellow classmates. No one could get over what Draco Malfoy had done, even if that person was no longer what his father was. Draco was a Death Eater during the second war, sure, but not anymore. He worked for the Ministry. He was a diplomat. Head of the Department for International Magical Cooperation. Well-respected by people who did not pause to doubt his intentions. There was no love lost between Draco and the Wizarding World, but it was not fair that Scorpius had to deal with the fallout.

"He's my father."

"That would explain it. I mean, it's not really important to me, the past is the past and besides I wasn't alive for it or anything and I never heard about any of this when I was a kid because I was a Muggle, but I suppose wizards just hold grudges, because everyone talks and whispers when you pass in the hall and it's really disturbing how much people hate you. But if your father was one of the most notorious criminals of the war, that might do it, I guess."

Would this kid ever shut up.

"So why do you not do something to stop it? I mean, other than bust their faces in and get in duels. Because you're really nice I can tell, and you shouldn't let people push me around."

Push him around? Was that what it looked like was happening? Scorpius needed to try harder to rectify that. He definitely did not feel like he was being pushed around. 'Course, he was not exactly running free across the plains with a herd of wild ponies. He was one of those 'tortured souls', according to Al. Scorpius would not know. He tried not to analyze himself too much.

His hands were jammed in his pockets, and Scorpius kept his head ducked, watching his feet cross the grassy path to the school. Scorpius scowled, looking forward to when they were back at the castle and Rebecca would leave him alone while she found her friends.

Not looking where he was going had its consequences, which he realized when he bumped into someone else who was not paying attention- Rose Weasley. She jumped, looking up from where she had been staring at a bush with a contemplative expression.

Scorpius blinked, deciding not to question that. "Sorry, Weasley." He sidestepped to keep going, aware of the twelve year old's eyes on him.

"Wait, Malfoy." Rose caught his arm, promptly releasing it when their blue eyes clashed. Her lips parted slightly. "I need to talk to you." Her eyes flicked to Rebecca. "Alone."

Scorpius would much rather have witnesses to whatever she wanted to say. "Anything you need to say, can be said in front of Pipsqueak."

"Hey!" Rebecca protested, but they both ignored her.

"Fine. What the hell are you doing?"

"At this moment? Walking back to the castle."

"I meant with the whole-" Her eyes flicked to Rebecca again- "The physical stuff."

"Weasley, everyone in Ravenclaw knows. You don't have to beat around the bush."

"All right! Why the hell do you get in these fist fights?"

"Entertainment." Scorpius clenched his jaw.

"Oh, Merlin. You're such an ass."

"So why are you talking to me?"

"Because-" She broke off, flushing. "I can't stand by while you're doing this to yourself. It's not in my nature." Scorpius unfortunately knew that was true.

"Make an effort," he told her in a low voice, heading off towards the castle. So Rose was concerned. He did not know quite what to make of that. He did not want her sympathy, but at the same time, she was showing she might care just a little bit. Was that not what he wanted?

"You're going to marry her," Rebecca told him matter-of-factly. Merlin, she was _still_ following him.

Wait, what?

"Excuse me?"

"You like her. And she likes you. Even if she doesn't know it yet. And you're going to marry her. I guarantee it."

"You're insane, little girl."

"I'm not little!" she protested. Scorpius spared a glance for her, one blond eyebrow raised. "OK, maybe I am, but I'm not a _little girl. _There's a difference."

"Whatever, Pipsqueak. Can you leave me alone now?"

She made a face at him, then jogged ahead of him to get into the castle. "Fine!" she yelled over one shoulder.

Ah, peace and quiet. For now.


	10. Chapter 10

Bated Breath

**A/N: I was going to make this chapter a little longer but I have been rethinking my strategy for the next bit. Well, at least I have a work ethic for this story again.**

**Disclaimer: Disclaimed.  
**

Chapter Ten

September faded and the first Quidditch match of the year was fast approaching. Rose bounced on her heels, more excited than she wanted to be. Practices had been long and hard, and she gave Al more credit for liking the sport than she wanted to admit. It was fun. Of course, they had interfered with her Head duties, but in typical Rose Weasley form, she had pulled off balancing prefect rounds and Quidditch practice.

Al watched her bounce over his eggs and bacon. He raised an eyebrow, a trick he had picked up from Scorpius, like the blond had learned messing up his hair from Albus. "Excited to watch your future snogging buddy play tomorrow?"

Rose wrinkled her nose in irritation. "No, I'm excited to watch your current snogging buddy get creamed by Slytherin."

He gave her a dirty look. "Enough with the Al-is-gay jokes, they ceased being funny… well… they've never been funny. And that is un-Gryffindor of you to want Slytherin to excel at anything."

She stuck her tongue out in a very mature response, then dug into her own plate of food. There was a thud on the bench next to her, and Rose felt her heartbeat spike, expecting to hear Scorpius' lazy drawl greeting Al. Rose shook her head slightly to clear it of fanciful and idiotic impressions like that, instead turning to greet her boyfriend- she knew it was him by the poorly veiled look of disgust on Al's face. "Good morning," she murmured, giving Alastair a small kiss.

The two had been going strongly in the three weeks since Quidditch tryouts. A lot had happened since then, including two Hogsmeade visits- Headmistress McGonagall was much more lenient on seventh years for visiting the village- she trusted them to be more responsible than the younger years, as they had more to lose from slacking off. Rose liked Alastair. He was kind to her, despite what Al said, if a bit more handsy than she cared for. She ignored the pang of guilt that struck her stomach whenever she saw Scorpius watching them- why she even cared at all, much less felt guilty, was beyond Rose.

"Good morning," Alastair returned, a little smile quirking the corners of his lips. Well, more of a smirk, really. Rose smiled back at him, returning to her food, giving Al a quick warning look. Al just looked darkly at Alastair as he took one last bite of his bacon, then left to go to the Ravenclaw table. Rose felt justifiably guilty over that one; she knew Alastair and Scorpius did not get on, which meant Scorpius would avoid coming over when Alastair was there, which meant Al did not see his best friend until their first class.

"So what are your plans for this afternoon?" Rose asked with a bright smile, pushing through her mixed feelings. She liked Alastair, she really did, but Rose was not sure she was so willing to push away her entire family. Because if Al and Lily did not like someone, then they were not someone any of the other Weasleys would like. Especially her father, a.k.a. the most judgmental man alive.

Alastair thought for a moment, his smi(rk)le growing wider. "Nothing much. Just classes, but those can't be over fast enough… Would you care to stroll around the castle with me this evening?" Alastair asked lightly.

Rose smiled, missing the greedy glint that flashed in his eyes as she glanced down into her lap. She liked him being so polite to her; most of the other boys she had dated had been, well, pigs. "I would like to, Alastair," she assured him, looking back up, tucking red hair behind her ear. He smiled again, hand resting of its own accord on her thigh.

Breakfast ended barely a minute later, and Alastair, who had a different first period than (unfortunately) Al, Rose _and _Scorpius (he was the unfortunate part), headed off to his own class after stealing another kiss. Rose for her own part walked at her usual brisk pace, though not a second brisker than need be, to get to class on time. Advanced NEWT Charms first period.

When she stepped into the classroom, she found a scene that highly distressed her. Getting to class seconds before the bell usually worked to her benefit, as she was still better prepared than the other students in her year. However, today, Professor Flitwick had arranged the desks in pairs. And that was not the bad part. The bad part was that Al had already chosen a seat across from an attractive Ravenclaw girl, leaving Scorpius looking disbelieving in the center of the room (which was funny). What was not funny was that there were only two desks left in the room. Across from each other. She had to work with Malfoy.

Letting out her breath in a long, exasperated sigh (accompanied by a daggers-glare towards the oblivious Albus), Rose pushed past Malfoy and sat in one of the last two remaining seats. Scorpius was not far behind her, and she noticed that they both were equally prepared, as she prepared her desk in her usual anal manner, and he laid his things out neatly (though not squared and parallel with the desk like they were on Rose's).

She brushed some hair away from her face, looking towards the front of the room as Professor Flitwick climbed on top of his stack of books. He began detailing their assignment for the day, which was to learn the Protean Charm. That was why they had partners, so one person could cast the charm and the other could see if it worked on the matching object they held. Rose was familiar with the charm both in theory and in practice, as this was the same charm her mother had used to spell the Dumbledore's Army coins almost thirty years ago.

Scorpius' fingers were twirling a quill anxiously, and he looked off in space as Flitwick spoke, then the venerable professor released them to practice and he snapped to attention, straightening in his seat. "We're casting the Protean Charm," Rose informed him dryly, shoving a photo at him. Scorpius took it, not noticing how Rose's eyes followed the motions of his long fingers.

"I know," he murmured, sliding the picture into the center of his desk. Malfoy looked up, meeting her eyes. "Would you like to cast first?"

Rose hated to admit it- she had fun. The class passed far quicker than she would have expected it to, working with Malfoy as she was. Much like Albus and herself, Scorpius caught onto things quickly and mastered them just as quickly, though the two boys enjoyed showing off after they mastered a skill. (Quidditch, for example.) The picture was one of a moonlit, snowy forest, which Rose initiated the spell casting by turning it to day. Scorpius turned the trees purple.

That was what most of the class was for her, was restraining giggles as she turned the forest back to some reasonable, normal thing then Scorpius Malfoy turned it some crazy color. Once, he even put a unicorn into the picture. Rose left the unicorn.

At the end of class, Flitwick collected the pictures with a wave of his wand, flicking through the stack for a moment to see the final products. She giggled at his resigned expression upon seeing Scorpius' masterpiece, a psychedelic tie-die forest with a hippie unicorn playing tambourine in the center. Albus raised an eyebrow at Scorpius, who shrugged with a lazy smirk on his face.

"Next week," piped the little professor, "I expect a one foot parchment on Protean Charms, their history and uses." Rose jotted it down in her planner and left class with the bell, nose in her papers as she studied for her next class.

When the weekend came, Rose found herself in the Ravenclaw stands with Alastair, cheering on the Quidditch team that Malfoy commanded. She felt slightly awkward standing in the sea of blue, but Rose nonetheless felt confident cheering for Ravenclaw, as they were not playing Gryffindor. Of course, she would actually be on the pitch this year instead of in the stands, so the point was moot for discomfort while cheering against her own team. Rose stood near but not too near to Alastair; it was a hot, late summer. His arm around her waist was uncomfortable enough, as were the predatory smiles he gave other boys who Alastair caught eyeing Rose. She felt like a possession.

Rose wet her lips before letting out a cheer after a particularly brilliant play by the new Keeper, that little "pipsqueak" Rebecca. The redhead giggled every time the back of Rebecca's uniform was in her vision, because where the player's last name would normally be, Scorpius had charmed it to say PIPSQUEAK. Every time Maltha Jordan accidentally said Pipsqueak instead of Briggs, the petit second year threw Maltha a world-class glare.

The match ended in a resounding and surprising Ravenclaw victory (as the Keeper was twelve and the Slytherins played dirty), a difference of two hundred points separating the teams. Ravenclaw goals had been mostly made by Malfoy, but a fair number of them had been made by the rest of the Chasers; even if the players did not like Malfoy, they were damn good.

The tall, swarthy blond leapt off his broom when he was still twenty feet off the ground, pumping his right fist which clutched his broom as he landed catlike, yelling victory. Grinning broadly, Malfoy offered his hand to the less-pleased Slytherin captain to shake. Rose obviously could not catch what Scorpius said to Montague, but the deepened scowl and curt nod Scorpius received in return suggested it was something along the lines of 'good job'.

Alastair spun Rose in a circle, tugging her attention away from the blond on the pitch. Her tall, dark and handsome boyfriend (tall, dark and creepy according to Lily) was grinning triumphantly, proud of his House team. "What do you say we get out of here and celebrate?" he asked slightly breathlessly, his smile one of pure triumph, untinged by the touch of malice that always ate at her paranoia.

"That sounds wonderful," Rose agreed, kissing him chastely on the lips. "Congratulations for your team!"

Alastair gave her a demur smile and slid his fingers through hers, pulling her away towards the castle.


	11. Chapter 11

Bated Breath

**A/N: I dunno if I've told y'all… I published a one-shot that kind of accompanies this story, it's called Letters to Scorpius. You can find it on my profile. It's Scorpius' first year, corresponding with his parents. I think it's pretty adorable.**

**A/N 2.0: So, it's short, it's about as third as long as I was going to make it, but... I realize it has been forever since I updated my active stories. And it's an update. So deal. I have the plot for the next 2-3 chapters worked out of this one, so expect more. I'm a sophomore in high school with a very full schedule but I think it's worked out OK so far. (Marine Undercover readers, I know there are at least a couple... I have the last 2 chapters on my computer, just have to edit them.)  
**

Chapter Eleven

Rose spun underneath Alastair's hand, a big smile on her face. Her plaid skirt flared out and her red hair flew into a wispy mess around her skull. Rose's blue eyes were lit up in simple happiness, enjoying herself. It was a week after the Quidditch match, a Hogsmeade visit. She and Alastair were dancing with no music, a pastime Rose had always loved. Especially in the middle of the street like they were.

A few of her friends and cousins were watching and smiling, though she suspected the smile on Lily's face was more at Rose's happiness than approval of Alastair. Al made no motion to look approving, just kept a guarded look on his face. Scorpius was nowhere to be found.

Her blue eyes lit upon her three years older cousin, Roxanne, holding hands with her best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Chase. Rose slid away from the dance, making her way over to Roxie, who was bouncing on her heels with the excitement of something. "So what's got you so hyper?" Rose asked Roxie, still grinning herself, cheeks flushed in the chilly morning air.

"Well, there's been a proposal," Roxie said, a look of excitement on her face.

"You and-?" Rose asked, glancing at tall, dirty blond Chase.

"No, James," she admitted. "He proposed to Tanya!"

Rose squealed, delighted by that bit of info, though she spotted Roxie throw a slightly disgruntled look at Chase. Rose raised an eyebrow, silently challenging him to match James. "So how'd he propose?" she asked Roxie.

"Oh, no, I can't tell you. That's his job. But it was very… romantic."

"So not so much?"

"No, but it was totally James. I was there."

Rose laughed. "I'm happy for him."

Roxie nodded, sneaking another glance at Chase, who looked mildly uncomfortable, before she asked Rose excitedly, "So what are you wearing to the ball?" Roxie asked with a conspiratorial smile.

The redhead shook her head, glancing over her shoulder at nearby Alastair who was holding a rather stiff conversation with Al. Her cousins made no effort to disguise their contempt for Alastair, and it was really irking Rose. If she could tolerate Malfoy, they could tolerate Alastair. _Thing is,_ chided her conscience, _you don't tolerate Malfoy, do you?_

She pursed her lips at her inner self and told Roxie, "I'm not going to tell you with any of them around. I plan on going one hundred percent incognito. If Alastair wants to find me, he has to know me well enough to do it himself," she snickered.

Roxie shrugged. "Suit yourself. Hey, come on. Get Lily, let's us girls go shopping for dresses." She waggled her eyebrows at Rose and beckoned to the younger, fifteen year old redhead.

Lily skipped over, a happy smile on her face. "I heard shopping."

"Come on, Lil," laughed the other two, each taking one hand, and the three girls headed off down the street to Rindy Malkins' Costume Shop.

As soon as they stepped foot inside the shop, a tinkling bell alerting the owners to visitors, Lily flounced over to the ball gown section. "Rosie, you totally need to wear a fancy corseted ball gown that makes all of the male variety go gaga. Wanna make Alastair a little jealous?" Lily asked impishly, holding up a pretty dark blue one.

Rose rolled her eyes. "No, I don't want to make him jealous. I don't want to make all of the male variety go gaga, either!"

"Whatever, Rosie." Lily replaced the blue dress. "So what do you want to wear?"

"How should I know? Why aren't you looking for a dress, anyway?"

"Hello, I'm a fifth year. This is the seventh years' dance, remember? Elders only." Rose wrinkled her nose at her cousin's slight and rifled through a rack of costume dresses. Not ball gowns, as she did not particularly want to be stuffed into a Barbie gown.

Roxanne pushed past her and drew out a dress that was formfitting at the top, but flared at the bottom. "You'd look pretty good in this, Rosie."

Rose rolled her eyes and allowed her cousins to dress her up in about thirty ridiculous dresses, giving in and letting Roxie and Lily decide what she wore to this dance. She ended up actually enjoying herself, Merlin forgive her, and the three girls were all having fun trying on everything they could get their hands on in their sizes. It was about five dresses in that Roxie poked her head over the partition in the dressing room. "So you and Alastair, huh?"

"Why, do you have a problem with him too?" Rose asked slightly sharply.

Her dark-skinned cousin wrinkled her nose, in much the same way as Rose herself. "No, not necessarily, I never ran into the guy at school enough to get my own opinion, besides I was three years ahead of you… Actually, I'm asking because I thought you would have figured how much Sc-"

Lily's head suddenly appeared above the partition on the other side, effectively cutting Roxie off with a soft whistle. "Forbidden topic, Roxie. We don't say the S-word around her. Well, Al does, but the rest of us know she'll just go off on him. Especially seeing as he and Al hate Alastair."

"You, too, Lily," Rose reminded her younger cousin.

"We have good reason-"

Now Roxie shushed her. "Fine, fine. I just thought, seeing as a certain blond- there, is that all right?" Lily nodded. "A certain blond has liked you for at least three years, that you would have picked up on it by now and given the guy a chance."

"Don't be ridiculous," Rose scoffed, unsure if the ridiculous part was her lowering her standards enough to date Malfoy, or that he had liked her for three years. She assured herself that it was the thought of dating Malfoy she found ridiculous.

Now Lily wrinkled her nose, though as the younger redhead never did that, Rose knew she was mocking. "Whatever, mon cherie… Anyway, zip up that dress and get out here. My disco dress is way cooler than that and I have to prove it."


	12. Chapter 12

Bated Breath

**Disclaimer: Again, they're not perfect but they're them.**

**A/N: Dudes, I am so sorry. I thought I had posted this AGES ago. I've had it finished and even posted into my documents on FFN for a couple weeks... I had been wondering about the lack of response to it; then I got a review for ch.11 saying "I can't wait for the ball" which got me confused. I checked FFN and sure enough, ch.12 was not up. My sincerest thanks go to Dani Prongs for her review, and here y'all go.  
**

Chapter Twelve

Scorpius twirled his wand in his fingers, staring at the floor. It was Charms class. His essay on the Protean Charm was sitting pushed to the edge of his desk, ready to go; he ignored the rest of the class as they shuffled in, well aware of Rose and Alastair talking outside. He was sitting in the front, but could make out every other word or so.

"…you…dance?" Rose asked.

"Don't…silly…trite," Alastair murmured in return, and Scorpius caught sight of Rose's offended face when he glanced at Albus. A nudge of hope pushed at his inner walls, which he quickly repressed back into its place. Rose was very forceful; if Alastair was serious about this… whatever it was, he would come around. _Well,_ he thought, _Screw you, Alastair. That's all you want anyway, isn't it?_

The tall Ravenclaw returned his full focus to Al, who had also seen the scene outside and was heading off Scorpius from asking Rose about it. The redhead had stormed to her desk on the other side of Al, huffing angrily. "I only got eleven inches out of this thing," Al groaned. "How lenient do you think Flitwick will be on length?" he complained.

"How small did you write?" Scorpius asked absently, gazing over Al's shoulder at Rose, who was furiously scribbling something. Furiously was literal; he watched her break a quill before she got whatever it was written to her satisfaction, then fold the parchment and tuck it into her pocket.

Al kicked his chair to remind him of where they were, and Scorpius cleared his throat, straightening in his seat. Professor Flitwick chose then to enter, clapping his hands and telling them they would today be having a class discussion on the Protean Charm as a continuation of last week, who would like to volunteer to go first.

Rose of course went first. "The Protean Charm, while technically a charm because of the ever-changing nature of the spell, shares several aspects with transfiguration and depending on the Ministry-regulated curriculum- which can also be considered a charm," she laughed at her nerd joke, "is indeed taught as such… The spell can be considered Transfiguration because of the permanency of the objects until they are changed with the master object. Wizards use the spell for changing locks and other similarly utilitarian purposes."

She did not name either of the two most famous uses of the spell; one of which Scorpius was rather grateful for. Disdainful of him as she may be, Rose never went out of her way to purposefully hurt him.

Mark Boot, however, had no such reservations. He was staring directly at Scorpius as he spoke. "The most well-known example of the Protean Charm is the most notorious."

"Elaborate, Mr. Boot," Flitwick prodded, though everyone in the room knew what he meant.

Scorpius' jaw clenched slightly but he continued staring blankly at the wall as he had been since class started. Would he never live his father's mistakes down? Was this generation such a product of its environment that their parents would be relived through children and no one would ever accomplish anything of their own without being compared to what came before them? Hell, could their parents not do the same? His father had made a name for himself, a good name, and Scorpius wanted to do the same. But he did not want to be constantly compared to Lucius Malfoy or who his father had been during and before the war. And Boot could go screw himself for the comparison.

"Well, the Dark Mark, of course. That was how Lord Voldemort- oh, sorry, _the Dark Lord_, communicated with his members. Anything to add, Malfoy? You're the real expert, after all." Boot's voice held a certain gleeful malignancy.

Scorpius' head snapped in Boot's direction, groping for his wand with a curse ready on his lips. Albus yelled out at the same moment as Boot's eyes lit in challenge. "That's quite enough," Flitwick announced, quieting the room with a flick of his wand. "Mr. Boot, uncalled-for. And to a member of your own House! Detention for a week with me," he told the surly Ravenclaw, not taking points because he _was_ in the same House as Scorpius. It made it rather convenient for the bully.

Scorpius' fingers flexed and tightened on his wand, still wanting to hex the hair out of Boot's scalp but instead watching him get away mostly clean- because he would not be clean for this later. The Ravenclaw ignored Al, who was trying to get his attention. At least, he ignored him until Al threw a wadded piece of parchment at his head.

"What?" Scorpius hissed, glancing at Al. They did sit in the front row after all.

"Don't do it. I know what you're thinking. Don't do it."

"Al, it's not like…" Whatever he was going to say (Scorpius himself was not sure) got broken off when Professor Flitwick coughed delicately, catching their attention.

"Is something more interesting than the Protean Charm, boys?"

"Yes, I was thinking of getting a tattoo," Scorpius replied acidly.

Al groaned and placed his head in his hands. "He's doing it."

"What kind of tattoo, Malfoy? One of your mommy?" Boot asked, smirking.

"No, one of yours," Albus shot back. Scorpius and Boot and Flitwick and Rose and everyone else turned to stare at him. Al shrugged. "Your-mom jokes just really aren't Scorpius' style and I just couldn't let that one pass up."

With Al's insert effectively killing the burgeoning fight, class continued, though the tenseness did not leave Scorpius' shoulders. Merlin he hated Mark Boot.

After class- "Scorpius, what the hell? You can't just whip out your wand in a classroom full of people, I don't care how much the guys pisses you off!" Al growled, shoving Scorpius down a side hallway to talk to him. Scorpius noticed with a slight pit of dread that Rose had followed them.

"Look I'm sorry for whatever sense of propriety you have, but I'm sick of just sitting there and taking it during class! I can't do shit and I know it, because getting suspended for fighting does absolutely nothing for getting into St. Mungo's program, but I can't let Boot do that. Not to me, not to my dad. He's tried really damn hard to make himself a good person, and I'm sick of being judged for what mistakes he made when he was sixteen." Scorpius stopped, breathing a little heavily. Al knew most of this of course, but he had never lumped it all into one rant, and never in front of spectators. Especially not Rose Weasley.

Al stared at him silently, prodding him to continue. Scorpius did, more softly. "I'm tired of sitting around while everyone in this school acts like I'm the f- the spawn of Satan. And we're going to be late to class." He shouldered his bag more firmly and pushed past both of them, heading to their next class.

"So what had you so riled this morning?" Al asked Rose at lunch. Alastair was not there yet, so both he and Scoripus were present at the Gryffindor table. For now. Scorpius could not bring himself to watch Alastair putting a mask over his greasy skin, and Albus knew that- it did not matter that Alastair was dating Rose (though it did), Scorpius refused to sit at the same table as Alastair if he could help it. That was one reason he sat with Al at meals, instead of his own House table.

Rose glanced at Scorpius beside her, though he barely noticed this, poking lettuce around on his plate as he was. Her lips pursed. "Oh, it's nothing. He just doesn't want to go to the dance, but I was under the impression he did, is all."

Scorpius' head snapped up and he looked over at her. What the hell was Alastair doing now? Could the other teen not lower himself to take out a girl he did not _really_ like? Or… What? Scorpius was confused. Alastair had done a good job so far of playing the good boyfriend. _Well, maybe he's trying to get Rose to stay back with him,_ his inner self reminded. _But that's not fair to Rose! She wants to go, and it's not like she gets a second chance!_ put in his "righteous" personality.

The blond settled for giving an opinion, as both Rose and Al were staring at him now. "Alastair avoids anything involving effort on his part. The slimy bastard doesn't really like you. He's a cheap rate womanizer and should have been born in _my_ family. Seeing as we're all Death Eaters and all," he added a little bitterly.

Rose's bright blue eyes widened a minuscule amount before she replied, nose wrinkling slightly in annoyance and eyes sparking. She ignored the second part, being more easily able to rationalize anger with the first. "Malfoy, you may think that Alastair is only going out with me because he wants to get to _you_ in some way, but I assure you that is not the case. Now will you please excuse me, I think I will go sit at the Ravenclaw table today."

She gathered her things and stood in a huff, walking over to join Alastair, who had just entered the Great Hall. Scorpius shook his head and popped a carrot into his mouth. "Did I ever say I thought he asked her out to get to me?"

"No, but you do think that," Al pointed out. "Scorpius, you're my best mate, but sometimes you're really dense. You realize the best way to get them apart is let things run their course? Rose breaks up with all her boyfriends before whatever next break. Christmas at the latest, I guarantee, if not earlier. They're not exactly compatible. Then you can go back to sulking amiably instead of brooding sulkily. In the meantime, there are other girls at this school, mate. If you're that desperate…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Rose will always be there. And you don't exactly go on many dates."

"Not many girls will date me."

"You're stuck on one that won't. Wait her out if you must, but don't forget you're a teenage boy."

"She's your cousin."

"Don't remind me, I'm trying to be supportive."

Scorpius sighed. "Al, name one girl that would date me."

His friend shrugged. "I dunno right off hand, but… Find someone at the masquerade dance thingy on Halloween. That's what it's for, isn't it? At least in your case? No one will know who you are unless you dress like a giant skull, so you ought to be fine!"

Unable to hold back a short laugh, Scorpius shook his head. "Whatever, Mr. Pinstripe Suit."

"Speak for yourself, Zorro."

He really did not want to be here.

Scorpius adjusted his mask, making a face. He _really_ did not want to be here. However, a certain charismatic Gryffindor had convinced him. Blackmailed him, really. There were certain things they had done in Spain that neither wanted their parents to find out, and some that Al could use as blackmail without fear of being collateral. Merlin, he would never drink that Spanish Wizard drink, El Fuego, again.

Stepping into the Great Hall, which had been well decorated for Halloween in usual high Hogwarts style- plus additional dance decorations, such as a stage- Scorpius began looking around for anyone he recognized without having to ask their name. Al was obvious, but they had agreed not to talk to each other. Or really, Al had told Scorpius not to talk to him "for his own good".

By Al's logic, if someone saw the very distinctive Gryffindor with the well-disguised Ravenclaw, they would connect the dots and know it was Scorpius. The Zorro mask was charmed to turn Scorpius' hair black while he wore it, so Al reasoned that Scorpius was safe so long as they were not together. Al had more interest in Scorpius' love life than he did.

Scowling slightly, a surly blond made his way across the Great Hall, towards a back corner. If "love" were to find him at this dance, then it would have to seek him out. He was not going to go find it himself.

He leaned against the wall, grey eyes scanning the hall through the black mask. The dance was exactly what he had expected, down to the tall man with slicked back hair and a zoot suit singing jazz on stage. Yeah, that was Albus.

A girl in a fairy costume, with purple hair to match, leaned against the wall beside him. She tucked purple curls back from her face with a sigh. Scorpius' eyes took in her appearance (surreptitiously of course, he was a gentleman). The girl looked over at him. "What are you, Inigo Montoya?"

"Zorro," Scorpius laughed, pulling his fake sword out of its sheath to show. "But I like your Princess Bride reference, fairy."

"You know, I actually wanted to come to this," she told him, looking out over the crowd. Sparkles glinted off her cheeks, catching the light of a thousand candles.

"But now?"

"I can't help but think how much I would rather be here with my boyfriend."

Scorpius' thoughts immediately went to Rose- but then, she surely had asked Al what Scorpius would dress as. So she could avoid him. No, there were enough girls at the school for at least one other to have been stood up by their boyfriend. If not more- there were a lot of jerks at the school, himself (and Al) included. "Why aren't you?"

"He-" She faltered momentarily. "Broke up with me."

"Oh." Not Rose. Scorpius did not know if he liked that or not. Well, he wanted to find out what he thought.

"So why are you stuck in a corner?" she asked. "Good looking bloke, I'd have thought a fellow like you would be out dancing."

"I'm only here because my friend thinks I need a girl. He made me come." Scorpius laughed slightly. "Any girl I found here wouldn't like me at midnight, anyway."

"Why?" the fairy snorted, looking him over.

"Let's just say they won't want to give me back my slipper," Scorpius responded slightly sourly. He was not lying or anything, just making references to princess stories. And it was true. "Appealing" as he may be in the three hours before midnight, come then most everyone in the school would shy away from him.

"Cinderella ugly or something?" Fairy-Girl teased, before shrugging slightly (almost to herself) then grabbing his hands. "Let's dance, Hombre."

Scorpius let his years of dance training at the hands of his parents kick in (while both nowhere near what they had grown up as, the Malfoys remained the equivalent of wizarding nobility and retained a certain level of decorum to that effect). He was a good dancer and knew it; he also showed it. The purple fairy girl was a good dancer as well. Al, who watched "girly movies" with his little sister, would later liken watching them dance to the masquerade ball scene in _Another Cinderella Story _with Selena Gomez and Drew Seeley doing the tango together. The jazz beat pumped in Scorpius' veins.

"You're pretty amazing," she gasped after the fast dance.

"Yeah, you kind of get that way after it's beaten into you… You're a fair dancer, yourself," Scorpius replied, though the note of admiration in his tone cued her into the understatement.

She smiled at him. "Beaten into you? What was it, a smack on the head of you missed a step?"

"Just about," he chuckled. "My dance instructor was a real crone. My mum didn't like her much."

"Then why were you taking classes from her?" the girl inquired of him as the music picked back up, a slower tempo this time which had Scorpius automatically pulling her closer.

"Tradition? My dad's one of those people who hangs onto the old while he embraces the new."

"Dancing's not bad."

"We have a really big house, and I'm the one who has to clean it during the summer. No house elves and my parents work a lot."

The girl snorted. "I'll give you that, I guess. My mum finds time to make my dad clean, even with her own busy schedule."

They both looked to the stage as Al began singing his favorite number again, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's song "Mr. Pinstripe Suit". Scorpius laughed, shaking his head. "He cracks me up."

"Same. Then again, he cracks everyone up. When he's not being annoying."

"True. The other day we were out on the pitch and he decided to put a motor charm on my broom so I couldn't control…" Scorpius trailed off, realizing that probably cued her into who he was. Or at least narrowed it down, as she now knew he was at least a Quidditch fan, and was close friends with Albus. Damn, he had been trying to avoid this.

Her face remained passive beneath the mask. "So you two are close."

"Yeah," Scorpius replied quietly. "He's my best mate."

"Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Always," she sighed. "Always I end up with you whether I like it or not."

Now it was his turn to be impassive. "So, er, what exactly does that mean?"

She bit her lip and Scorpius suddenly had a very definite notion of who this was. The purple girl stood on her tiptoes and lightly brushed her lips to his as the timer exploded for midnight, then withdrew her mask to reveal Rose Weasley's red curls and bright eyes. She left the room quickly, already aware of curious whispers around them.

Scorpius rubbed the back of his neck, staring after her. He ripped off his own mask and ran his fingers through his hair, looking to the stage to exchange a what-the-heck glance with Albus.

Rose Weasley.

Kissed him.

Oh Merlin, he was dead.


End file.
